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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22755718">The Sage and the Fool</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scarlet_Claws/pseuds/Scarlet_Claws'>Scarlet_Claws</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hollow Knight (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Angst with a Happy Ending, Awkward Flirting, Himbo Tiso, Hugs, Kissing, M/M, Opposites Attract, Pining, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Smut, Suicidal Thoughts, Vanilla</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 11:07:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>27,135</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22755718</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scarlet_Claws/pseuds/Scarlet_Claws</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Quirrel’s attempt on his life is interrupted by a certain fool stealing his nail. Now Tiso keeps following him around and Quirrel is wondering if starting anew would really be that bad.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Quirrel/Tiso (Hollow Knight)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>179</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>409</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. A Perfect Fool</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I didn't post that for the longest time after having started to write it because I was certain that I could somehow fit all of my ideas in a One-Shot, until I had to give up. It is now a multi-chaptered fic. </p><p>Please enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Amidst the horrors and savagery of a decadent Hollow Nest, the Blue Lake was nothing short of a miracle. Quirrel, when he sat on its fine sand beach, could have remained sitting there forever, enjoying the peace.</p><p>But he didn’t have forever. Although his body was young, preserved as Hallownest was preserved eternally, his mind felt the weight all those memories that slowly came back. How old was he? How old was Hallownest? Did time even matter anymore in a land where it was suspended?</p><p>Eternal. What a horrible thing to be. Hallownest was crumbling under the pressure of time yet surviving, a living soul trapped in a rotting body, eyes wide open while its limbs turned to dust. And he would share its fate, eventually, no matter how far he ran. Or so it seemed to him.</p><p>He planted his nail in the sand. It was a fine weapon, that one, older than what he guessed himself yet with a sharp, masterful edge. He hoped it wouldn’t remain there forever because it truly would be a waste. Maybe someone would pick it up.</p><p>He stepped in the lake, the warm water lapping at his feet. He listened for a sound but heard no other than his breath.</p><p>Soon, it would be as quiet as it always was. Or so he thought.</p><p>“Nyes!” a voice suddenly cried, startling him.</p><p>He turned around. A second bug had approached as he stood at the edge of the lake, a bug that had grabbed his nail and that was now brandishing it proudly. He carried a shield and his face was obscured by a hood, but in its shadow two eyes gleaned.</p><p>“Now, my arsenal is finally complete,” he said. “It was a bad time to take a bath!” He swung the blade around, making great arcs with it, his eyes on Quirrel as he taunted him. “And it’s a fine weapon too! Indeed, I like it a lot.”</p><p>This irked Quirrel. Of course, he had meant for his nail to find a new owner, but not like <em>this</em>. Had this stranger snuck up behind him when he had struck his nail down? Had he thought himself so sly he would never be caught until the deed was done? A vile thief, that’s what he was. And Quirrel hated thieves.</p><p>But he didn’t lose his cool. One never should. He walked up the beach, pretending that he needed to get on all four to climb the slope, and stood in front of the thief. The latter took a step back, holding up his shield.</p><p>“Hey, hey, back off, or I’ll cut you down.”</p><p>The moment where he raised his shield to strike was the one Quirrel was waiting for: he threw the sand he had gathered earlier straight at the thief’s face when he least expected it. The thin dust surprised and burned him, but both his hands were full now and he couldn’t seem to let go of anything to rub it out.</p><p>Oh, what a perfect fool.</p><p>Quirrel, with the ease of someone that had spent their whole life fighting, stepped into the other’s space and twisted his arm. The first thing the fool did was drop the stolen nail but Quirrel wasn’t satisfied until he was bent down with his arm behind his back, turned away from him, quite incapable of striking him with the shield in his other hand.</p><p>“Ow, ow, <em>ow,</em>” protested the other. He twisted and struggled against Quirrel’s hold, in vain. “Hey!”</p><p>The fool tried to strike him, of course he did, and it might have worked if he didn’t <em>telegraph</em> his movements. Did he not realize that his head moved as he searched for Quirrel’s feet? That his feet patted the ground a few times as he adjusted his balance? When he kicks backwards, Quirrel had already moved out of the way.</p><p>In fact, he had also prepared a counter-offensive. A single push made the fool fall headfirst to the sand, and Quirrel <em>sat</em> on him while still holding his arm. One couldn’t have been more defeated than that without being hurt, yet the thief still struggled – albeit in a completely inefficient manner. Quirrel let him do. He had all day.</p><p>He knew that the other was getting winded when he starting hurling insults. “Idiot! You son of a fly, turd, dung-fucking mongrel!”</p><p>And a few others, that slid over Quirrel’s shell like drops of rain. He had to say, this young man had quite a colourful vocabulary. Waiting it out proved to be quite long, as the other insulted his mother, his sexual preferences, his <em>scent</em>, and made sure to explain that he was a dirty <em>cheater.</em> It was almost amusing until the fool realized that he wasn’t going to rile a reaction from him. He tried struggling some more until Quirrel twisted his arm, making him hiss in pain. So, he stopped and waited, thinking.</p><p>“What do you want from me?” he asked. “You’re enjoying sitting on me? Like some sick kink?”</p><p>Quirrel almost answered yes to the taunt, wondering if that would make the other squirm, but didn’t. Striking an enemy that was already defeated wasn’t his style. Instead, he said,</p><p>“Isn’t it funny how consequences for your actions work?”</p><p>“So? You’re going to sit on me for all of eternity?”</p><p>“Maybe.”</p><p>The thief still had an arm free. He tried to reach behind him with his shield to strike Quirrel, an attack that was as easy to block as it was clumsy. He fitted the weapon comfortably under a foot so that he couldn’t use it and, when the other disengaged his arm to strike him with that instead, caught it and twisted it as well.</p><p>“Ow! <em>Bastard</em>! Let me go!”</p><p>He attempted to struggle some more, bucking like a young stallion despite the sand that hindered him. Quirrel had to admit that, if anything, his force of will was admirable. It made him want to wrestle it, see who would give up first, and he wondered who would come on top in a fair fight.</p><p>He chuckled. If the other would have wanted a fair fight, he shouldn't have started by stealing his opponent's weapon. What went around came around, as they said. </p><p>“What’s so funny?” the fool barked.</p><p>“Nothing.”</p><p>“Let me go!”</p><p>Quirrel smirked. “If you ask politely.”</p><p>“<em>Politely?</em>”</p><p>“Unless you want to stay like this longer. I don’t have anywhere to go, so that might take a while.”</p><p>The fool became quiet, considering his options. Quirrel could almost hear the gears in his head grinding as he looked for a loophole he could use to worm himself out. But he found none, because, in the end, Quirrel had the advantage and he wasn’t relishing it.</p><p>“All right,” he said after a long, long silence. “Please, let me go.”</p><p>“And?”</p><p>“What <em>now</em>?”</p><p>“Aren’t you going to say you're sorry for being rude?”</p><p>“I’m not—“ He stopped himself. Breathed in deeply. Exhaled like his soul was escaping his body from how exasperated he was. “I’m sorry I tried to steal your stupid nail.”</p><p>“Hmm. Apology accepted.”</p><p>Quirrel stood up, picked up his nail, and turned around just in time to block the fool’s shield strike. He recoiled from the strength of the bow, surprised: for someone that had been so easily overpowered when in a new situation, the thief packed a punch.</p><p>And even more than that. He launched himself in a series of hits, blows coming one after the other, all of which Quirrel blocked. The thief was in his element, no longer telegraphing or fumbling, and his arms, no longer burdened by a weapon he was unfamiliar with, held true.</p><p>Quirrel caught himself smiling. How amusing. The most surprising thing about this fool was the measure of skill to his name. He had very obviously been trained in combat.</p><p>When their weapons met, the sound of it resonated across the lake. Quirrel didn’t want to hurt the other, he simply wanted to parry, maybe to make a point, but the more he fought against him the more he wanted to test him, just to see how far he could push him.</p><p>“<em>Fight </em>me, bastard!” the fool suddenly cried.</p><p>“As you wish.”</p><p>Quirrel suddenly took on the offensive, launching attack after attack on the poor fool. For someone that fought with a shield, he didn’t fare too well, flinching and blocking <em>in extremis</em>. He was lucky his opponent wasn’t interested in hurting him.</p><p>A blow that struck just at the right angle with the right force threw the fool off-balance; Quirrel used the opportunity to get his nail under his guard and right at his neck. The moment the other felt the biting point of that nail, he threw his arms in the air, giving up, which Quirrel saw as a relief. He didn’t want to be killing a fool on the day he died. <em>That</em> would be a foolish death.</p><p>“Well then, will you leave me alone now?” Quirrel asked.</p><p>“You just got lucky.”</p><p>“Aren’t you a stubborn one?”</p><p>“No need to <em>gloat.</em>” The fool pushed away Quirrel’s nail with a hand. “I’ll be leaving now. This place is just so dreadfully <em>peaceful</em>. I’ll be going to find some <em>real</em> battles.”</p><p>“Well, good luck with that.” Quirrel sheathed his weapon.</p><p>The other didn’t seem to be quite done, though, despite his previous statement. “My name is Tiso, but friends and foes alike call me Tiso the Conquering.”</p><p>“Sounds like a mouthful. I’ll stick with Tiso.”  </p><p>“As you wish, but you’ll soon be calling me that.”</p><p>“Soon?” Quirrel was very amused by the idea. “When will we meet again?”</p><p>“Well, at the Coliseum of Fools, of course.”</p><p>“The Coliseum?” The words stuck an ancient, half-buried memory.</p><p>
  <em>A dreadful place, feasting on the boredom of some and the misery of others. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>They would love your skill with the nail, Quirrel, but I hope you never set foot there. I’d hate losing my most brilliant student that way.</em>
</p><p>“I won’t be going,” Quirrel said.</p><p>“What? But aren’t you on your way to—“</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“But you are...”</p><p>“It doesn’t matter. I’ll be staying here if you need me. Goodbye.”</p><p>Eventually, Quittel was the one that turned around and left first, walking along the thin white sand of the lakeside. He had seen Monomon in that memory, her in her Archive, talking to him, alive. And now she was gone. It had hurt so much to see her.</p><p>He wanted to be alone for a while.</p><p>The sand crinkled with each step. He looked up at the ceiling. There was light pouring down from it, created by some sort of electrical current from the material there and the humidity, similar in origin to the one created by jellies like Uumuu. The light was beautiful, unique to this place, but also soft and soulless, with no rage or burning heat coming with it. He didn’t know why he felt like he was comparing to some other light he had known. Maybe it would come back to him.</p><p>But he didn’t want it to come back to him. It was just... so much, and he was so tired. How could just a mere bug like him carry all this time and memories on his shoulders? They were so heavy. He felt as if they were going to press him into the sand and choke him.</p><p>Eventually, he had to stop and sit down again.</p><p>Walk into the water. That’s what he should do. Walk into the water, and make one with the peace of this place. It would be for the best, he thought, and then he wouldn’t have to trouble himself with everything else. He didn’t believe in life after death.</p><p>He felt watched.</p><p>He turned around a Tiso hid behind a portion of the wall a fraction of a second too late. What was this fool still doing here?</p><p>He stood up and walked over. Tiso peered over the corner and, seeing that Quirrel was marching straight at him, fled in the opposite direction.</p><p>“Leave me alone!” Quirrel cried at the retreating figure.</p><p>He stopped at Tiso vanished from sight behind a bent. It wasn’t like him to get angry like that, in fact he had not lost his cool like this in... what felt forever. He remembered exactly when he had the last time.</p><p>
  <em>I know you’re upset about it, but I must. It’s for the greater good of Hallownest that I must do it.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>My work? It will be kept forever, here. People will come to the Archive to learn, Quirrel. If I become a Dreamer, then everyone I did in my lifetime will stand forever. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>I know... I’m sorry. Please understand.</em>
</p><p>Quirrel lowered his head. His hand reached up to touch the mask on his head out of habit but it wasn’t there.</p><p><em>There is one more favour I must ask of you, my friend</em>.</p><p>She had been his life. He had been nothing but a miserable rascal, once upon a time. A wretched being. Someone meant to die in the way those from the Coliseum of fools did: among enemies, during a bloody battle where gore and guts flew about. Yet when she had found him, she had been unafraid.</p><p><em>Anyone can learn</em>.</p><p>To her, the gift of reason bestowed on bugs by the Pale King was everything. She was a Daughter of the Canyon, a creature that wasn’t meant to reason, yet the Wyrm had given her a mask and a mind. This was why the Archives had been so precious to her: knowledge would be shared.</p><p>Forever, she had said.</p><p>But he had walked into the empty Archives. He had read the corrupt entries. She had said forever, but her wish had been nothing but a foolish dream.</p><p>This made him profoundly sad, yet no tears would run down his face.</p><p>Once again, he found himself sitting on the shore, looking into the water, but this time he waited. And waited. Eventually, he fell asleep.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Over Sleeping Waters</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Nyeh.”</p><p>Oh Wyrm, Tiso’s voice was following him in his dreams now.</p><p>A hand grabbed his shoulder and shook him awake. Quirrel opened his eyes to find himself staring into two bright eyes in the shadow of a hood.</p><p>Tiso quickly backed away, as if scared he was about to get hit. Quirrel sat up.</p><p>“What is it?” he asked.</p><p>“The water. It’s rising.”</p><p>Quirrel looked at it. Indeed, there was the sound of rushing water into the cave, and the water was but a few feet away from where he was resting. Oh, to sleep so soundly that he might have drowned in his sleep, he thought to himself, but here he was, awake again, and the reason why he was here in the first place came rushing back to him.</p><p>“It probably rained on the surface,” Quirrel said. “And now the water is gathering here. That’s interesting actually, that would explain how it’s been leaking on to the City of Tears for such a long time without draining entirely... I wonder where all the water goes afterwards? I know there is a draining system for the extra water, but where does it bring it to?”</p><p>“No one cares.” Tiso started walking away, then paused when he noticed that Quirrel didn’t move, his eyes on the water. “Are you coming?”</p><p>Quirrel almost answered no.</p><p>“I am, give me a moment.”</p><p>He stood up, using his nail as a support, and followed his insufferable companion. Why was he still here? Hadn’t he left to go get himself killed in the arena? Quirrel couldn’t discern his motives and this made him suspicious.</p><p>“There’s a ledge up there,” said Tiso, pointing up.</p><p>Indeed, the was a ledge, and it looked like a relatively easy climb. Tiso, his shield hooked to his back, got started on it. Quirrel watched him carefully for the next minute, until he had heaved himself on to the platform with his legs dangling.</p><p>“Nyek – Are you coming?”</p><p>“Hmm.”</p><p>Quirrel jumped. He hooked his hands to a hold, then used that and his momentum to reach the platform. It took him less than three seconds to be sitting next to Tiso.</p><p>Tiso just stared at him.</p><p>“I’m good at jumping,” Quirrel said.</p><p>“Hmpf. Well, I didn’t do that because I didn’t want to overwhelm you. I should have known that you were the type to show off.”</p><p>Quirrel resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Instead, he laid his nail down and looked far away, at the other side of the lake, to let his mind wander.</p><p>Of course, Tiso wasn’t going to have that.</p><p>“Why don’t you want to come to the Coliseum?” he asked.</p><p>“Hmm.”</p><p>“Is it because you’re scared of it?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“Liar. Well, I’m not scared of dying, for one! I’m looking for a challenge fit for a real warrior like me. But everything was so <em>boring</em>. Like this lake.”</p><p>“So why are you here, if it’s so boring?”</p><p>Quirrel caught the other’s short pause before answering. “Well, if I had not stayed, you would have drowned, and I want my rematch.”</p><p>“Do you still want to steal my nail?”</p><p>“What? No! I don’t want your stupid old nail! Everyone has a nail anyway, that’s so unoriginal. I’d rather stick with my shield.”</p><p>“So why did you stay?”</p><p>“I told you! So that you wouldn’t drown yourself!”</p><p>Something about the way Tiso said that struck Quirrel. Had the other somehow known what he was about to do? No, that would be absurd. But the idea that someone <em>would</em> try to stop him if he tried again was enough to make him pause and consider.</p><p>He had lived three lives already: his fitful youth, his learning with Monomon and his exile. Was there really no strength left in him for a fourth one?</p><p>Maybe. Maybe not. For now, he had no idea what that would entail.</p><p>He stared at the water ahead, how it rippled from the drops that fell from the ceiling. Quirrel found it meditative, and he was slowly falling into a trance when he saw, in his peripheral vision, Tiso moving. Quirrel turned his head and Tiso, very quickly, withdrew his arm from behind him.</p><p>“Is something the matter?” Quirrel asked.</p><p>“Nothing’s the matter.”</p><p>“Weren’t you doing something just now?”</p><p>“I wasn’t doing anything!” Tiso shook a fist to emphasis his words. He was a little too angry to be telling the truth. He had obviously not been telling the truth for a while.</p><p>Now Quirrel was certain that the other had some further interest in sticking around, and it wasn’t a rematch or he would have already said it. He just couldn’t figure out <em>what </em>it might be.</p><p>“All right... I believe you,” Quirrel lied. And he turned back to look ahead.</p><p>Tiso didn’t dare repeat the manoeuvre, so Quirrel’s waiting didn’t work in this regard. The water level kept rising, slowly but surely.</p><p>“What should we do if it reaches us?” Tiso asked.</p><p>“It won’t reach us.”</p><p>“It <em>can</em>.”</p><p>“No, it won’t. The water will stop at the level of the galleries and will stop there.”</p><p>“No it <em>won’t</em>. Just because you want it to won’t make it do that.”</p><p>“Tiso— The water will go in the Resting Grounds first. It will flood the whole kingdom beneath before reaching us.”</p><p>Tiso didn’t contradict him, but he didn’t agree either. He stayed quiet for a moment, then came up with another subject of conversation.</p><p>“Can you imagine being killed by water?” he said. “That’s probably the lamest death you can imagine. <em>Drowning</em>. Learn how to swim before going near water, dumbass!”</p><p>“I can swim.”</p><p>“I didn’t mean <em>you</em>, obviously. I was just talking...” Tiso made some vague gesture. “About someone that would be really stupid. I would hate dying in some stupid lake.”</p><p>Quirrel didn’t answer. Once again, this comment hit a little too close to home for him to be comfortable, but Tiso had no way of knowing that. His way of thinking did remind him of himself, or at least who he used to be during his life before Monomon. Younger him would have been outraged at the idea that he would down in some “stupid lake”.</p><p>“Don’t you think that this place is at least beautiful?” Quirrel asked.</p><p>“Beautiful?” Tiso snorted. “Maybe it is, but I’d rather be somewhere else. Pretty isn’t for me.”</p><p>“I think that this place is very relaxing. A lot more than the Coliseum.”</p><p>“Is that why you don’t want to go? Because it’s not <em>relaxing</em> enough?”</p><p>“I don’t want to go because it’s a cruel place.”</p><p>“Cruel? That’s what the <em>weak</em> bugs say. I call that glorious. Finally, a challenge! You know how far I’ve travelled just for the Coliseum?”</p><p>“I’m guessing it’s quite far.”</p><p>“<em>Exactly</em>. And then some.”</p><p>“Hmm.” Beat. “Me too, I travelled quite far to come to Hallownest.”</p><p>Tiso snorted. “Don’t tell me you’ve come for the lake.”</p><p>“Not... initially. I was curious. I’ve heard so many things about here. And there was... like a calling.”</p><p>“I know what you mean.”</p><p>“It turned out that someone <em>was</em> calling me.”</p><p>“Wait, really?”</p><p>“And now she’s dead.”</p><p>Tiso opened his mouth. Closed it. Then opened it again. “That’s wild.”</p><p>“It was what she wanted. She was half-dead already.” It pained him to say it like that, but it was the truth. When Monomon had accepted the Pale King’s proposition, he had already known that she wouldn’t come back.</p><p>“Was she family?”</p><p>“You could say that.”</p><p>“What does that even mean?”</p><p>“We were close.”</p><p>“Close? As in... romantically?”</p><p>“She was my mentor.”</p><p>“<em>Oh</em>. Your <em>mentor</em>. Right. Not your...”</p><p>“No, no, she wasn’t.”</p><p>“I mean you seem to care about her a lot—“</p><p>“It wasn’t like that.”</p><p>“Right. Right, yeah.”</p><p>Quirrel sent Tiso a strange look. His relationship with Monomon seemed like such an odd thing to focus on. But Tiso was just looking ahead, seemingly unaffected. There was a silence. Quirrel leaned back, placing his hands behind him for support.</p><p>“By the way, what’s your name?” Tiso asked.</p><p>Quirrel chuckled. “You ask <em>now</em>?”</p><p>“Nyeh, I just— I didn’t plan to get stuck on a platform with you.”</p><p>“You could still probably walk away, the water is only knee-high to the entrance of the gallery over there.”</p><p>“Are you going to tell me your name, yes or no?”</p><p>“Hmm. It’s Quirrel.”</p><p>“Quirrel,” Tiso repeated it, tasting it.  </p><p>“That’s right.”</p><p>“I like it.”</p><p>“Thanks.”</p><p>It was only after answering that it struck Quirrel: this was the first compliment out of Tiso’s mouth since he met him. That was pretty odd, to be honest. He didn’t really know what to make of it.</p><p>That’s when he felt a hand cover his.</p><p>Quirrel froze, not really knowing how to react to <em>that</em>. He quickly glanced to the side, confirming that it was indeed Tiso covering it, and he was not drawing away. Tiso himself, not that he was looking at him, looked very tense.</p><p>Oh.</p><p>Quirrel couldn’t help it: he started to laugh. So that’s what it was. The following around, the weird questions, the awkward silences too, probably. Tiso was trying to flirt with him. He certainly had not seen that coming.</p><p>“Don’t laugh!” Tiso cried, withdrawing his hand. “I’ll let you know that— That they call me the Conquering for a reason!”</p><p>Quirrel only laughed harder, unable to stop himself.</p><p>“Fine!” Tiso stood up. “I’m leaving, then!”</p><p>Tiso started to go down, but he slipped on the rocks and fell in the water below face first. He got up with a huff and sputtering and continued his exit as if nothing had happened, splashing his way to the gallery.</p><p>With a graceful leap, Quirrel landed in front of him, stopping him.</p><p>“Hey, don’t leave,” he said.</p><p>Tiso tried to go around him, but Quirrel found himself in his path every time.</p><p>“I didn’t mean to laugh at you.”</p><p>“Let me pass.”</p><p>“I was just surprised.”</p><p>“Yeah, well it’s too <em>late</em>.”</p><p>Quirrel caught Tiso by the shoulders, stopping him from escaping, and looked at him right in the eyes.</p><p>“I’m very flattered that you would be interested in me at all,” he said.</p><p>“You... you are?”</p><p>“Absolutely. I wonder what you see in some old bug like me, but I won’t question it. And here I was, wondering if you were still after my nail.”</p><p>“I told you, I’m not after your—“</p><p>“I know. You said that already. Let’s not fight, it’s in the past. Do you want to go back to our spot?”</p><p>“Nyeah.”</p><p>By the time they were back on the platform, Tiso seemed to have regained his composure (and his confidence.) He checked his bag so see if it had gotten some water – luckily, everything inside was intact.</p><p>“Are you hungry? I hunted a dangerous beast just before,” Tiso said, displaying the remains of what seemed to have been a Tiktik. “I’d be willing to share with you.”</p><p>“Oh, that’s lovely. I’m afraid I don’t have much myself to trade, but I can offer to get something for you later.”</p><p>“Take what you wish. A true warrior doesn’t think of tomorrow.”</p><p>Quirrel had his doubts about this true warrior business but he didn’t comment. Instead, he took the flesh that was offered to him and bit in it, eating with Tiso. At first, he thought to himself that it would be nice if they had a fire to cook it, but the moment the flavour of raw meat touched his tongue he realized that he was ravenous. When had he last eaten? Not since he had visited the Archive, at least. And he had gotten rid of all his food shortly after.</p><p>So... did that mean that he wasn’t going to walk into the lake now?</p><p>Maybe he could stick with Tiso a while longer, just to see where that might lead him. As foolish as he might sound sometimes, there was just so much life in him, pouring out of him through every crack in his shell, as if he was a furnace. Would it be wrong for Quirrel to want to warm himself near him for a while, before going on his way into the cold unknown of death?</p><p>He didn’t realize that he was staring straight as Tiso until the other rose his head from his meal and stared back.</p><p>“What are you looking at?” he asked.</p><p>“Oh, nothing I was just thinking about something.”</p><p>“Nyeh. So, when are we going to fuck?”</p><p>Quirrel choked on his bite and started coughing.</p><p>“What?” Tiso asked. “I have the right to know.”</p><p>“Where did that question come from?”</p><p>“Well, you <em>said</em>...” Tiso paused, searching for what Quirrel <em>had</em> said. He could have searched for that answer forever, because Quirrel had not actually said anything on the topic.</p><p>“Tiso, just because I didn’t reject you doesn’t mean that I accept you as a— a partner. It doesn’t work like that.”</p><p>“Why <em>can’t </em>it work like that?”</p><p>“Because those things need trust, and time... You wouldn’t want to get in bed with a stranger?”</p><p>Tiso stared at him like he had grown a second head.</p><p>“Am I making sense to you?” Quirrel asked.</p><p>“Not really. I mean, I’ve always done it like that. No one has the time to do all those things – start trusting, and all that jazz. We could be dead tomorrow. Not me of course, but you, the others...”</p><p>“Look, I think that there was a misunderstanding.” Quirrel stood up. “I better go.”</p><p>“Nyeh, wait—“ He stood up as well. “You can’t leave. We just met!”</p><p>Quirrel placed a hand on his shoulder. “Listen, it was nice knowing you, and I’m grateful for the meal, but I don’t want to give you false hopes, all right? We don’t seem to have the same values.”</p><p>“Why do you make it such a big deal? It takes the same amount of effort as fighting and we already had that. We don’t need to share any <em>values</em>.”</p><p>“I’ll just be leaving now.”</p><p>Before Tiso could stop him, Quirrel turned around and jumped off the platform, landing in the water below, and started making his way to the tunnel that led to the Resting Grounds. He listened for signs that Tiso was giving chase, but he heard none.</p><p>He thought that this was the last time he would hear of this fool. Luckily for him, he was wrong.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Under a River of Tears</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He knew for a fact that there was more water in the Blue Lake above as he travelled through the city, but it didn’t look to him like there was more rain falling. Navigating around the husks that haunted the streets proved to be a good distraction from thoughts about the bug he had left at said lake.</p><p>Until it wasn’t.</p><p>He stopped for a break under a balcony that sheltered him from the downpour and leaned against the wall. Right away, his mind went to Tiso. His thoughts were usually more guarded but, just this once, he allowed himself to indulge in what might have happened.</p><p>Sometimes, because he spent so much time alone, Quirrel forgot that different people had different ways of thinking; what might be normal for someone else might be a strange notion to him. To him, that was picky with the ones he took to bed, it seemed odd that someone would decide those things on a whim. Tiso seemed to have been caught by surprise by Quirrel’s protest on the matter. Was he used to meet people with a similar frame of mind?</p><p>Not that it mattered now. Tiso was probably already on the road to the Coliseum by now; a fool among many, meant to die among many and vanish at the bottom of the acid pit under the arena. There would never see each other again.</p><p>Quirrel told himself that he wasn’t sad about it. Not at all. Attachment, in this harsh world, was nothing but a weakness. Maybe that was why Tiso had been in such a hurry to lead things to conclusions: he knew how quickly one could lose their life. Maybe Quirrel should have said yes to it, maybe he was just too old fashion to understand that there were no such things as love in a dead kingdom.</p><p>He was drawn from his thoughts by the sound of a familiar voice crying in surprise behind him; he turned around in time to notice Tiso hiding around the next corner.</p><p>Again.</p><p>Quirrel sighed heavily. He would have walked out to Tiso and sought him out if it had not been for the downpour between them. If the man wanted to follow him, he could walk over himself.</p><p>Tiso peered over the corner, thinking that he was being discreet, and froze when he saw that Quirrel was staring directly at him. They exchanged a long look from across the street before Tiso figured that he might as well join the other where it was dry, so he came over.</p><p>“Why are you following me?” Quirrel asked.</p><p>“I’m not following you,” Tiso answered as he hopped under the balcony. The space under it was tight enough that they had to stand a little closer than what Quirrel was comfortable with.</p><p>“You are. The Coliseum is in the other direction.”</p><p>“Maybe I just got lost.”</p><p>Quirrel rose his brows.</p><p>“All right, I <em>am</em> following you,” Tiso admitted. “But I promised it’s not because I want to fuck you.”</p><p>“Then what is it?”</p><p>“I would like to have another fight with you.”</p><p>“Oh?”</p><p>“Not because I think you’re stronger than me or anything, because you are <em>not</em>.”</p><p>“I never said that I was.”</p><p>“Good. Because then I would have to duel at my full strength to prove to you that it’s not the case. Up to now, I’ve only been half-serious.”</p><p>“I believe you.”</p><p>“You don’t want to fight me when I am serious. Many have tried and met their end.”</p><p>“Good to know.”</p><p>“That’s why they call me Tiso the Conquering.”</p><p>“Tiso? You don’t have to keep talking about how strong you are. I get it.”</p><p>“Well, I just wanted to make sure—“</p><p>“<em>Tiso</em>.”</p><p>“All right, I’ll stop.”</p><p>Quirrel sighed in relief. Either this Tiso was among the most insecure people he had been given to meet, either he was truly unaware. Considering that Quirrel had learned of him so far, he suspected that it might be a little of both.</p><p>“So, where do you want to fight?” Tiso asked.</p><p>“I didn’t say yes.”</p><p>“What? Do you want me to say please <em>again</em>?”</p><p>“Well, I <em>was</em> going to say that you didn’t give me any time to answer because of how much you talk but, now that you mention it, it’s true that you are rarely polite. So now you’ll have to say please.”</p><p>Tiso’s mouth opened, but he was so shocked that no sound came out of it. It was almost funny to watch. Eventually, he managed to gather back his bearings and protest.</p><p>“I don’t talk <em>that</em> much.”</p><p>“You do.”</p><p>“You can’t <em>prove </em>that.”</p><p>Quirrel sighed deeply. Tiso could probably spend days bickering pointlessly about this or that thing, about whether or not someone had done this, or not enough, or too much, and it made him tired just thinking about it.</p><p>“I don’t need to prove it,” he said. “And what’s the matter with saying please? It’s not going to hurt you.”</p><p>“It hurts my pride.” Tiso puffed his chest out. “As a warrior, you don’t ask, you take. Anything else is a show of weakness.”</p><p>“Sounds like a thief’s mentality to me.”</p><p>“It <em>isn’t</em>. A thief takes when they are hidden. A warrior fights for what they want, and the strongest is the one that gets to walk away with it.”</p><p>“That still sounds like what a thief would do.”</p><p>“Tcheh! You clearly don’t know anything about being a warrior, Quirrel. If you did, you would be going to the Coliseum with me, and prove your worth in the arena.”</p><p>“Maybe. But I do know what it is to be a thief, and I can tell one when I see one.”</p><p>Tiso stared at him, his eyes wide with surprise and his mouth open. Quirrel didn’t resist pushing up his chin to close it, which drew him out of his shock.</p><p>“Wait, you mean to tell me that you used to be a thief?” he asked.</p><p>“Maybe this is a story that we can save for another place,” Quirrel answered. “There are plenty of empty rooms inside where we can sit down more comfortably.”</p><p>“Maybe we can even find something to eat.”</p><p>“I wouldn’t bet on it, unless you like old desecrated bug corpses. From what I understood, most of the husks that you see through the streets died of starvation.”</p><p>“Eh, I have eaten worse.”</p><p>Quirrel stared at Tiso, wondering what did Tiso consider worse than literal corpses, before he decided that he didn’t want to know.</p><p>“So, are we going to get out of the rain?” Tiso asked, blissfully oblivious to the thoughts that ran through Quirrel’s head.</p><p>“Oh, yes. I think I saw the entrance to a building a while back that might do just fine, if we do a bit of backtracking...”</p><p>“That would be great if we did that. You’re walking away from where I wanted to go, so I’ll take all the backtracking that I can get.”</p><p>“If it’s such a problem, why are you following me in the first place?”</p><p>“Well, how else am I going to fight you?”</p><p>“Why do you need to fight me this badly? You’ll get a thousand fights in the Coliseum. What’s one more?”</p><p>Tiso opened his mouth but he didn’t seem to have an answer. He started thinking, which meant that he held his forehead in his hand and frowned a lot, as if he was making a great effort; Quirrel sighed and started walking away with his companion on his heels.</p><p>It took Tiso two whole streets to find the reply he was looking for. “Well, you have a unique fighting style.”</p><p>“I do?”</p><p>“You do, and I think you probably didn’t show me everything yet, because you haven’t used your speed against me when we fought the first time. So, if I fight you, I’ll learn how to defend myself against people like you, which means that I will become stronger.” Beat. “You’re still not stronger than me, mind you, just different.”</p><p>“Just... different. But you’ll get stronger if you beat me.”</p><p>“<em>Exactly</em>.”</p><p>“So you think you need more experience before taking on the Coliseum. You don’t consider yourself ready?”</p><p>“Hey, I am entirely ready for <em>anything</em> it might throw at me. I could go right now and I’ll become the champion in an instant.”</p><p>“Even opponents that are three times your size?”</p><p>“Even those. They will be no match for me. I <em>thirst</em> for blood.”</p><p>“Well, that’s convenient, because I didn’t feel like fighting this husk.”</p><p>“What husk?”</p><p>Quirrel pointed ahead. A literal giant of a bug was stomping up and down the street, forever trapped in a never-ending patrol. His red armour, his nail and his shield marked him as a former elite guard – Quirrel had yet to remember how he had learned that.</p><p>“I’ll take him on,” Tiso cry. “Sit back and be amazed.”</p><p>The fool let out a loud war cry and charged full steam ahead, shield raised in front of him. The husk saw him coming from halfway across the street and stood in a defensive pose, his sword at the ready.</p><p>Quirrel placed his hand on his nail.</p><p>Tiso’s shield suddenly morphed, opening like a flower to reveal petal-like blades. He swung his arm and it cracked like a whip through the air. Quirrel wasn’t sure he would have survived would Tiso have used that in their first fight, because this looked like the sort of things that would get right past his defence.</p><p>But the husk remembered their training well, and they had their own shield. The blade whip shrieked when it met it, coiled and managed to nick his red armour, but retreated to Tiso’s arm without having caused any more damage than that.</p><p>The husk’s nail came down with all of his strength.</p><p>Tiso parried, but he also fell to his knees from the strength of the blow with a grunt. He didn’t have the time to move away, already was the husk raising his weapons over his head to land a second blow—</p><p>Quirrel appeared right behind the husk, weapon drawn.</p><p>“Yashaa!” he cried.</p><p>His nail, thin and sharp, found its way between the armour plates of the husk’s head and back, slicing through shell, muscles and nerves. The husk stopped in his movement, grunted, and came crashing forward. Tiso screamed and scrammed out of the way, avoiding being crushed by the corpse by a few hairs.</p><p>Quirrel hopped over the body to give his companion a hand. Tiso ignored it as he stood up and dusted himself off.</p><p>“That was my kill,” he said.</p><p>Quirrel rolled his eyes. He didn’t know why he had even expected a thank you. “I wasn’t going to have you die.”</p><p>“Hey, I wouldn’t have died. I had the situation perfectly under control.”</p><p>“Whatever you say. By the way, here is the place I was thinking about.” Quirrel pointed to an open door. On the side of it was a sign that said ‘Pleasure House’.</p><p>Tiso’s attitude changed immediately when he saw it, and his train of thoughts was obvious. He read the sign, then looked directly at Quirrel, trying to gauge if there was any hidden meaning behind the fact that he was bringing him there, then read the sign again before chuckling. Quirrel sighed.</p><p>“What a very interesting place indeed,” Tiso said. “Are there any reasons why you are bringing me here, specifically?”</p><p>“To get out of the rain.”</p><p>“The rain. Sure.”</p><p>Tiso seemed very happy to follow Quirrel; he even started to whistle. The other didn’t know how to break it to him that the Pleasure House might have been for that in the past, and the past only. So he didn’t tell him, and he waited for the fool to make an inevitable slip so that he could be corrected. It would be easier that way.</p><p>They headed down the short hallway inside, until they reached a lift that still worked, miraculously. Once activated, it rose and rose and rose endlessly, giving Tiso plenty of time to say more stupid things.</p><p>“You know, when you think about it, this ruin is rather boring. No food, and a bunch of dead people that can’t even put up a proper fight.” He paused. “Although I bet that you think it’s pretty or something.”</p><p>“Well, I do think that it has some sort of melancholic majesty. I can almost remember what it might have been during its glory days, the bustling activity, the people coming and going, the shops, the <em>people</em>...”</p><p>“Urk.” Tiso wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Why do you have to make it poetic? It was probably stinky and full of bugs everywhere.”</p><p>“It did <em>not</em> stink. The city had a system of canalisations under it to get rid of the waste.”</p><p>Tiso sniffed the air. “It stinks.”</p><p>“I just told you that it— Wait a moment, you’re right. It <em>does</em> stink.”</p><p>Right as they both came to that realisation, they passed an opening on the side of the elevator shaft, one that looked exactly like the others they had seen on their way up. Quirrel grabbed Tiso by the collar when he looked like he would jump off, strangling him when he did try to jump off.</p><p>“Tiso, jumping off a moving elevator is not a good idea,” he said.</p><p>“Hey, I wouldn’t have fallen!” The fool protested. “I wanted to see what it was. Maybe it was eatable?”</p><p>“Don’t tell me that you wanted to try eating something that smelled like <em>that</em>, Tiso. Whatever it was, it wasn’t eatable.”</p><p>“What do <em>you</em> know, mister the expert? Been here before? Seen it? You would have had to jump off the elevator, so I don’t think so.”</p><p>“If you want to eat something, I’ll hunt something for you. Something <em>fresh</em>.”</p><p>“It better be something <em>big</em>. A warrior like me needs a lot of proteins to make sure that his muscles don’t become weak.”</p><p>Tiso tried to flex to show off his muscles, but he was interrupted by the elevator coming to a stop. Or maybe he did flex but Quirrel didn’t look, busy as he was getting off and moving to the next area.</p><p>It was very nicely decorated, with large windows that let in the light from outside; those called to Quirrel like a magnet and he stepped closer to them to look down. The height truly was dazzling, and they had not even reached the tallest tower of the city. He looked up at it, wondering who could have been living there. Maybe he used to know; maybe one day he’ll remember.</p><p>If he lived this long.</p><p>“Do you really have to stand this close to the window?” Tiso asked. “Aren’t you scared you’re going to muck it, or something?”</p><p>Quirrel looked back over his shoulder. “Are you scared of heights?”</p><p>“Scared of heights? Me?” Tiso blew a puff of air. “No, that’s absurd. Why would I be scared of anything?”</p><p>“Fear is irrational.” Quirrel looked down. The streets were like tiny veins among the dark masses of the buildings. Sometimes, a solitary silhouette made its way through them – husk or bug, Quirrel didn’t know. “You can’t really fight something irrational.”</p><p>“Well, I was born with good genes, so I’m not scared.”</p><p>Quirrel didn’t even ask what genes had to do with anything he had just mentioned, or even what Tiso thought they were. He just stepped away from the windows and returned to his side, ready to see what else was there for them in the Pleasure House.</p><p>The first thing they came across was a stage room, large and beautiful, with a wide empty stage. There were many paper flowers on it and the walls, decorating the place. Quirrel thought that it must have been quite a sight when there had been people to take care of it. It still was, although it was obvious that time had taken its toll on the vivid colours.</p><p>“Boring,” Tiso said. He walked to the stage and climbed on it. “Do you think that they used to stage fights here?”</p><p>“I don’t think so. It was probably Songstress Marissa’s stage, so she must have been singing on it.”</p><p>Tiso, that had started to do enact a battle against an imaginary foe, stopped to stare at his companion. “Who’s that?”</p><p>“I don’t know. I just read the writings under the painting in the entrance.”</p><p>“There was a painting?”</p><p>Quirrel nodded.</p><p>For some reason, Tiso thought that it was hilarious. “A painting. Rich bugs really are something, aren’t they? If I was going to get myself something for people to remember me by, it would be a <em>statue</em>. And it would be titled ‘Tiso, the greatest fighter of all time’. Now that’s something I would like to have.”</p><p>“I would prefer a painting. I think it’s easier to carry.”</p><p>“What for? People can see your face already; you don’t need to show it to them. I already know where I would leave <em>my</em> statue, and it wouldn’t need to move from there.”</p><p>“Let me guess, at the Coliseum?”</p><p>“What? No, why would I want that? They would have seen me fight, they don’t need to learn about me and what I did then. No, I would want it in my birth town. Gee, my brothers would be impressed if I had a statue in the middle of the square. In fact, I think that this is exactly what I will do with the money.”</p><p>Quirrel climbed on the stage and sat there cross-legged, looking up at Tiso. “Why?”</p><p>“Why what?”</p><p>“Why are you so desperate for recognition that you would risk your life?”  </p><p>“I wouldn’t risk my life.”</p><p>“You’re telling me that it’s perfectly safe for you to walk into the Coliseum?”</p><p>“Oh yeah. It’s just not safe for the others.”</p><p>Quirrel rolled his eyes. Honestly, he should have seen this reply coming. “Let me change the question then. Why do you want to win in the Coliseum so bad?”</p><p>“I don’t understand the question. Why wouldn’t you want to fight there?”</p><p>“Well, try to explain it to someone that doesn’t want to fight in there. Someone like me.”</p><p>Tiso stared at him. Quirrel could see the gears turning in his mind, trying to come up with a way to explain something so evident for him. Maybe he had never even thought about it before, he had just always wanted it, yet Quirrel was sure that there must be some sort of explanation. He didn’t think that the other lusted after some sort of glorious and tragic death. One didn’t go to the Coliseum for that, they sought out some terrible beast to slay instead. But beyond that, he had no insight into the mind of Tiso.</p><p>“Maybe if I ask the question differently,” Quirrel said. “Let’s imagine that you are made Champion right now, that you are given all the money of the prize, that everyone knows your name. What do you do?”</p><p>Tiso’s face light up at the perspective. “I would go back to my village and tell my parents I did it. I would show them my trophies and tell them about all the terrible enemies I slew. And they’ll <em>all</em> know my name then. They’ll never call me the names of one of my brothers again, because I’ll simply be the best of them.”</p><p>Something in the way he said the last part gave Quirrel the clue he needed. “How many brothers do you have, Tiso?”</p><p>“Sixty-four,” he answered without missing a beat.</p><p>“Six—Sixty-<em>four</em>?”</p><p>“We’re more like a hundred and fourteen siblings, but you asked about the brothers, so...”</p><p>“Over a hundred kids,” Quirrel muttered.</p><p>“I’m number seventy-three!” Tiso announced, as if he was proud he could count this far.</p><p>No wonder the man was so eager to prove himself. Quirrel couldn’t imagine what it might be like, to spend your life being nothing but a number among many. He knew of species of bugs that had many eggs, but those generally didn’t survive the stage of larva because of how fragile they were. Was Tiso part of one?</p><p>“Now you tell me about yourself,” Tiso said as he flopped on his stomach, looking up to Quirrel. “You said that you were a thief once.”  </p><p>“Oh... yes, indeed I was.”</p><p>“Why did you become a thief?”</p><p>“It’s a long story, that happened a long time ago. When I was—“</p><p>“I wish there was something to eat, if it’s going to take a while. Do you think that I can go check and see if there is really <em>nothing</em> eatable in that stinky place?”</p><p>“Tiso, I said no jumping off elevators.”</p><p>“Nyeh... Why are you such a drip?”</p><p>“Do you want to hear my story or do you want to complain about me caring about you?”</p><p>“Wait, what? You care about me?”</p><p>“When I was a young bug—“</p><p>“Don’t change the conversation! You just said a thing!” Tiso got on his knees to wave his finger in Quirrel’s face. “You care about me! You do!”</p><p>“I just don’t want to see a bug I know plunder to his death,” answered Quirrel as he pushed Tiso’s hand from his eyes. “That’s never a pleasant experience.”</p><p>“You didn’t mean it like that! Y-you meant it as in you <em>care</em> about me! You like me!”</p><p>Quirrel was stuck. He had not really meant it to come out like that, but he couldn’t deny that he <em>had</em> come to care for the fool, even if he was rude, even if he had fewer self-preservation instincts than a Gruzzler, and even if he sometimes asked some inappropriate questions. But at least he was charming. His confidence was refreshing, and his fearlessness candid. All in all, Quirrel would miss him if he knew that Tiso was dead.</p><p>“All right,” he admitted. “I do care about you.”</p><p>He was going to add something along the lines of how it wasn’t as much as Tiso might think but that was the moment where the other broke into the hugest smile Quirrel had seen on him since they met, and well... He was a pragmatic, not a <em>monster</em>. It the idiot liked the fact that Quirrel cared about him so much, who was he to take that away from him?</p><p>Tiso laughed like a fool and got back on his stomach, ready to listen to the rest of Quirrel’s story. At least he wasn’t talking about jumping down an elevator shaft anymore.</p><p>“As I was saying, when I was young,” Quirrel said, “my parents didn’t have much of anything. My father was trying his best to make ends meet, but it never was <em>enough</em>. So, one day that my mother caught me stealing some food in the pantry, she taught me to steal from others instead.”</p><p>“Your <em>mom</em> taught you to steal?” Tiso said. “My mom was the one punishing us when we tried to steal.”</p><p>“And yet you have nothing against beating people up to get what you want from them.”</p><p>“Hey, I already said—“</p><p>“That it’s the warrior’s way, I know. I still think it’s stealing, but can we save that debate for another time?”</p><p>Tiso puffed his cheeks. “Fine. Please go on.”</p><p>“Thank you. When I was old enough to leave the nest, I got in a big fight with my father. He didn’t like the way I was behaving, how I was hanging out in bad company – I was, mind you – and he wanted me to change. I thought that I could live on my own even though I was nothing but a kid. So I left.”</p><p>“Hey, I did that too! Well, erm, without the fighting with my dad. My dad doesn’t really care about us. He’s got his heir.”</p><p>“His... heir?” That was an odd term to use.</p><p>“Yeah, like, his first son. The brother that’s going to get all of my dad’s domain, and the money, and title...”</p><p>“The <em>title</em>?”</p><p>“Oh yeah, my dad’s a duke.”</p><p>“You’re a duke’s <em>son</em>?”</p><p>“Why are you so surprised? Do I look like I couldn’t be one?” Then Tiso added in a mutter, just loud enough for Quirrel to understand: “Well it’s not like I’ll ever be a duke, or even a knight. So it’s not like it counts.”</p><p>“Well, I didn’t expect to meet a duke’s son in Hallownest of all places. That explains how he had enough money to raise a hundred kids.”</p><p>“Nyeh. It’s not like he raised us <em>himself</em>. But what happened after you left?”</p><p>“Oh, right.” Quirrel thought about it for a while, trying to recover the memory. “I’m not sure, because I can’t quite remember, but it didn’t go well. I was alone, and miserable, and homeless... until I joined a band of bandits. Then my situation became a little better, but only slightly. All they were really interested in was how strong I was, because that meant that I could survive among them. So they taught me how to fight properly.”</p><p>“So you <em>were</em> fighting people,” Tiso said. “Like a warrior. You sure you weren’t a warrior?”</p><p>“I’m sure, because we always picked on the weak and those that couldn’t put up a fight. We didn’t engage if there was a risk that they might win.”</p><p>“Oh.”</p><p>“They are not the people with whom I have learned my current nail skill as well. What I did could at best be described as elaborate flailing.”</p><p>“Then who taught you?”</p><p>“I think... it was a knight. A disgraced knight. At some point, my band of thieves was chased down by soldiers and their leader was killed. I decided to become a mercenary. That’s when I met that bug. I don’t know what she saw in me to take me under her wing. I felt so unworthy, but she taught me everything she knew about fighting while I worked under her.”</p><p>“That’s pretty cool. I thought about becoming a mercenary at some point.”</p><p>“It’s a tough life. Any life where you must fight for a living is a tough life. And you barely get recognition for it. People don’t think very highly of mercenaries.”</p><p>“Yeah, they prefer gladiators.”</p><p>“Or people that do something for them selflessly. Those are the people that are remembered forever, even when they don’t do great things.”</p><p>Tiso didn’t reply right away; he seemed thoughtful. “I’m not quite sure I would know how to be selfless. That’s not something that I can do.”</p><p>Quirrel laughed and gave him a pat on the head. “That’s something you’re taught. At least I was taught to do so by someone important to me.”</p><p>“The knight?”</p><p>“No... someone that I met later in my life, when I was working as a bodyguard. Or at least I was working as a bodyguard at first, and then she started to teach me as a student. But that’s a whole other story.”</p><p>“Sounds <em>boring</em>.”</p><p>“It most certainly wasn’t! I think it was the most interesting time of my life.” ¨</p><p>Tiso started laughing.</p><p>“It’s true,” Quirrel insisted. “It really was.”</p><p>“Really? Sitting around all day and learning about <em>stuff</em>? That can’t be right. It’s the most boring thing ever.”</p><p>“I wasn’t only learning about stuff. I was learning about people, and myself, and I loved what I did. But I suppose it would be best if I said the story from the start.”</p><p>“Nyeh, I don’t really want to know this part, to be honest. It sounds boring.” Tiso got up and hopped off the stage. “We don’t like the same type of things. Like, you like <em>quiet</em> places, and I like stuff with some adventure. I think that’s fine though. We still agree on some things, like fighting.”</p><p>“All right.” Quirrel didn’t mind if Tiso didn’t want to hear the rest of the story. He was starting to get used to his companion. “Where are you going?”</p><p>“I’m going to do some more exploration. There was some more stuff upstairs. Maybe there will be some food there. Are you coming?”</p><p>“Me? I don’t think so. I think I’ll stay for a while longer, thinking.”</p><p>Tiso paused and stared at him as if he had grown a second head. “Thinking? As in, you’re just going to sit there and do <em>nothing</em>?”</p><p>“I won’t be doing nothing. Sometimes it’s important to stop and sort your own thoughts through.”  </p><p>“Nyeh. If you say so. Sometimes you’re pretty weird, Quirrel. But I still like you. If we would be fighting each other in the Coliseum, I would try to kill you last.” Beat. “And then I would be a little sad.”</p><p>“Oh. That is quite nice of you.”</p><p>“Also, you’re hot.”</p><p>Quirrel, surprised by the compliment, chuckled. “Thank you.”</p><p>“You’re welcome. See you later.”</p><p>Tiso didn’t wait for an answer, he just turned around and left, leaving Quirrel alone with his thoughts. The bug sighed and got off the stage as well. All things considered, he wasn’t sure he liked that room. He didn’t feel quite alone, as if some presence from all the people that had lived and performed there lingered. He didn’t believe in ghosts... but he also couldn’t fight the feeling of being watched.</p><p>He moved to the window in the entrance instead, to watch the drops race each other on the glass. The rain wasn’t his favourite weather, it was rather cold, but there was something so soothing about watching it when one was safe and dry inside a house. And the view was just as breathtaking as it had been last time.</p><p>A lot of the things he had told Tiso, he guessed rather than remembered, from what few memories he could gather from his life so far back. For example, he remembered that he had cared deeply for the knight that had taught him nailing, but he couldn’t remember her name or her face. It saddened him. It was as if he had lost her and, with her, a part of him.</p><p>There were other things, many other things. He didn’t know what they were, he just knew that they were <em>missing</em>, and that fact alone pained him. It was as if the emptiness had weight, and he had to carry it. This wasn’t what he wanted in his life. This was why he had lived too long for a bug like himself.</p><p>When this whole affair with Tiso would be done, he thought, he would go back to the Blue Lake.</p><p>“Quirrel!” Tiso called. “Quirrel, come and see that. It’s amazing!”</p><p>This drew Quirrel out of his thoughts. Tiso’s voice was coming from upstairs, and he seemed quite happy. Had he found food? Curious, Quirrel quickly ascended, but he couldn’t find him when he was at the top of the stairs.</p><p>“Where are you?” he asked.</p><p>“Over here!”</p><p>Quirrel found a door that was left open; behind, there was Tiso, already hanging out in a hot spring, without his weapon but with his hood still on. The place was gorgeous, perfectly preserved, with marble columns and beautiful sculptures. The basin itself was entirely paved with hand-painted tiles, and with small seats so that one may sit along the side comfortably.</p><p>“Wow,” Quirrel said. “This place is still working after all those years. It must be a natural source.”</p><p>“I found it,” Tiso announced proudly. Then, with a more flirtatious voice, he asked: “Are you going to come in?”</p><p>Quirrel picked up immediately on the situation: two bugs, alone in an abandoned city, in a hot bath... One would have to be blind not to see where this was going. But he really wanted a bath too. The City of Tears wasn’t a cold place per se, but it did have a slight chill to it and there was no place that was truly warm like a hot spring.</p><p>Would doing anything with Tiso really be that bad? He thought again about how he didn’t have anything to lose now that he was coming to the end of his life. He could have worse picks then Tiso. No matter how silly he could sound like, he was quite good looking – even if looks weren’t really what Quirrel looked for in a partner – and obviously willing. There was a time where Quirrel himself had been a lot more volatile, a time where he had seen sex as bonding with others rather than something special shared between people that cared for each other. Why couldn’t he have one more time like that, before going out?</p><p>No, he thought, he wouldn’t. The Quirrel that had slept right and left had died a long time ago. The one that had come after, the one Monomon had saved and nursed back from the brink of death, had learned to value people, to see them as more than a quick relief for a night soon forgotten. This he had remembered when everything else had vanished, when he had banished himself out of Hallownest for his third life with the mask of his master, and he wasn’t about to forget it. It would be bland, and pointless, if he gave in to the temptation now.</p><p>Even if there <em>was</em> a temptation.</p><p>So, he undid his nail belt, dropped it, dropped his bag as well, and undid the shale that protected his head and antennas, before stepping in the water in the furthest point away from Tiso.</p><p>The other didn’t even try to hide the look of disappointment on his face. At that moment, he probably understood that Quirrel had no intention of entertaining his hopes for sex. Interestingly enough, Quirrel saw the moment where Tiso had the idea that his elder was maybe playing hard to get on his face: his eyes went wide and he smirked, eyeing his companion. And then he started to scoot along the seats on the side of the basin, very unsubtly inching closer to Quirrel.</p><p>The latter had to give it to Tiso: the man was very goal-oriented. If he wasn’t so obsessed with fighting, he would probably get far in anything he had his mind set on out of raw will. That was attractive, just not attractive <em>enough</em> to persuade Quirrel.</p><p>He pretended that he was oblivious to Tiso’s progression, in the hope that the other might get the hint. Of course, that didn’t work – Quirrel didn’t know what he was hoping to achieve there – and before he knew it Tiso was within arm’s reach. There was only one way that ever seemed to work with Tiso: being bluntly honest.</p><p>“No,” Quirrel said.</p><p>“N-no what?” Tiso immediately put the arm he was reaching out to put around Quirrel’s shoulders behind his back. “No? You’re not very clear, I wasn’t doing anything.”</p><p>Quirrel sighed. “Look, I don’t want to hurt your feelings with this, but I don’t want to fuck you. You’re a very attractive bug, but right now I don’t know you well enough to be okay with this.”</p><p>“What you mean, you don’t know me well enough? I’m not going to stab you when we have sex! So what are you scared of?”</p><p>“Tiso.” Quirrel leaned away from the edge of the basin, placing his elbows on his knees. “Have you ever fallen in love?”</p><p>Tiso stayed quiet for a very long time, staring at Quirrel. It went on for so long that the latter wondered if the other even knew the term.</p><p>“Well, there was this girl,” Tiso eventually said, very quietly. “She was very nice to me, so I <em>thought</em> that I was in love. But that wasn’t true. All she wanted was to get with my brother. She was nothing but a crush anyway.”</p><p>“So that’s a no.”</p><p>“Yeah, I was never in love. I’ll be one day. When I’ll be famous, everyone will like me, so I’ll get to pick whoever I want to fall in love. Why do you ask?”</p><p>“Maybe I haven’t asked right. Have you ever <em>made love</em>? With someone you trusted and cared for, maybe something that you would describe as your best friend.”</p><p>“No, can’t say I ever did that. Sex is sex. It just <em>feels </em>good. I don’t need someone that cares for me if they are good in bed.”</p><p>“That’s not true. You had the hugest smile when I admitted that I care for you.”</p><p>“Yeah, but... That’s different.”</p><p>“That’s not. Not to me at least. And I have been with people that I don’t care for, and people that I care for. It’s night and day. You would know it too if it had happened to you. And, yes, some people are really good at it. But when you are with someone that matters to you... you make it count. That’s why I tell you no.”</p><p>“So, to sleep with you, I got to make you fall in love with me? Is that it? Because I can’t do that. Even I know that you can’t force people to fall in love with you.”</p><p>“I didn’t mean that.”</p><p>“So what did you mean?”</p><p>“I meant that I want to get to know you. And that takes time.”</p><p>“Bullshit.” Tiso stood up, water dripping from his form. “<em>Bullshit</em>. I don’t need time to know I want to fuck someone. The only thing I’m doing is wasting my time, so I don’t even know why I’m doing this. I’m leaving now.”</p><p>“Tiso, don’t be like that—“</p><p>“I don’t even know why I’m staying here if it’s to accomplish nothing but talk. Talk! That’s all we do and it’s really, really <em>boring</em>.” He stepped out of the basin and went to pick up his stuff. “You know, I <em>get</em> it. You probably think I’m not smart enough for you. I know what you think of me, you intellectual are all the same. So what if I don’t care about pretty things? I don’t? What are you going to do about it.”</p><p>“It’s not about how smart you are. Tiso!”</p><p>But Tiso, still dripping wet from his bath, had just left. Quirrel could hear him stomp down the stairs, and then even that sound faded away.</p><p>He guessed that was the way things ended. Not that they had started anything together.</p><p>He suddenly didn’t really want to stay in the bath, so he slowly got out of it. He found a curtain, that he used as a towel, then buckled himself up so that he was ready to get on his way again. The thing wit Tiso, whatever it had been, was over, so he supposed that it was time to go back to Blue Lake.  </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Surrounded by Hissing Acid</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As it turned out, Quirrel didn’t go back to the Blue Lake. Tiso had been waiting for him downstairs, even if he refused to look at Quirrel in the eye, and he followed him when they got on the elevator.</p><p>The ride down was a long, quiet, awkward one, but Quirrel refused to be the first to talk. Tiso too, apparently.</p><p>Quirrel, of course, wondered why the other was still there. Maybe he was still hoping, despite his scene in the bath, for something to happen. Quirrel almost told him out of the blue that he was quite sure of his decision, but on the other hand three rejections in a row was a little harsh on the poor fool. Maybe it was best to wait and see what he had to say, and act from there on; maybe this time, it wouldn’t turn out as poorly as the last time he had used that strategy to deal with Tiso.</p><p>Whatever it was, Tiso was still following him, venturing further and further from the Coliseum he said he wanted to visit. What did he really want?</p><p>He turned out to be the first one to ask a question.</p><p>“Where are we going?” Tiso asked.</p><p>Quirrel stopped and turned around. “We?” he repeated.</p><p>Tiso stared at him, his gaze hard. He wasn’t in the mood to be questioned at all, it seemed, and it was understandable: his pride had been wounded enough as it was. So Quirrel sighed and decided to give in.</p><p>Only, when he almost said that he was back to the Blue Lake, he didn’t. Something about how he would have to answer questions he didn’t want to answer stopped him. How did you explain to a man ready to throw his life away for the glory that you wanted to throw yours away because you no longer saw a use for it? There was something terrifyingly intimate about that. Like it was a weakness that Quirrel didn’t want Tiso to see. Maybe it was vanity, but he rather liked the image that Tiso was unwittingly sending back to Quirrel: the one of a desirable, mysterious warrior, someone worthy of being followed around even when he was annoying. He didn’t want that to turn into the tired bug he had become or, rather, he didn’t want Tiso to carry that image with him when he left.</p><p>So, he said the first thing that came to his mind.</p><p>“The Fog Canyon.”</p><p>“Where’s that?”</p><p>“You don’t know where it is?” Quirrel was surprised. “Didn’t you pass it when coming down in the Kingdom?”</p><p>“No. It’s the first time I come this deep.” Tiso waved his arms, gesturing at the city and the rain around him. “If the whole Kingdom looks like that, I don’t think that I’ve been missing much.”</p><p>“Oh, no, it doesn’t. I actually rather like the Fog Canyon, it’s very pretty, and I think you’ll like it too. It’s a place that certainly keeps you on your toes.”</p><p>Tiso narrowed his eyes. “I don’t trust you.”</p><p>“You don’t?”</p><p>“You said it’s pretty, which most probably means that it’s going to be boring.”</p><p>“Why don’t you decide when you get there? If you still want to follow me around, that is.”</p><p>“Will you fight me over there?”</p><p>“If you ask nicely.”</p><p>Tiso huffed but didn’t comment further. He didn’t seem very pleased by the prospect of being polite, but he wasn’t going to protest against it, which was good at least. Less to worry about.</p><p>Quirrel had not planned on going back to the Archive.</p><p>His heart was beating fast as he started to walk again. Last time he had gone there, he had been confronted with his past in the most brutal way – suddenly, as he walked through the rooms full of jellyfish, with no warning, having only been guided by a vague sense of familiarity up until that point.</p><p>He didn’t want to go back, but he also couldn’t back down now that he had said that he would do that. So he walked through the streets of the city the best he could, with his head up straight and his gait unfaltering, and tried his best not to think of their destination.</p><p>Tiso was quiet as they progressed, walking around the husks that were on their way. Quirrel had mapped the city fairly well in his head, having travelled it quite a few times as he explored Hallownest, and knew it well.</p><p>Sometime after they had passed the fountain of the Hollow Knight, Tiso’s stomach growled loudly. This reminded both of them that he was hungry.</p><p>“When are we leaving the city for somewhere there will be food?” Tiso asked.</p><p>“We won’t be long,” Quirrel replied. “I think that there should be a few Vengeflies a little further. They seem to like the humidity in the west part of town more than in the east.”</p><p>“Is the east where we came from?”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“It looked like the rich lived there.” The tone in which he said it showed just how much disdain he had for the former rich bugs of Hallownest. “Especially in that Pleasure House. I bet the people working there were poor people that <em>had</em> to work there, and the one that enjoyed it were all rich.”</p><p>Quirrel didn’t comment on that, he had just spotted a husk soldier standing in their way. He put an arm in front of Tiso, signalling him to stand back, and took a few steps forward.</p><p>The guard spotted the challenger and went into a fighting stance. Their swords met with a resonating clash, and Quirrel recognized the style of fencing that the other used almost immediately. Not by name, but by muscle memory, as if he had fought bugs using it over a thousand times. Their blades danced.</p><p>He saw it coming in his peripheral vision, but he never saw it strike. It was just that next thing he knew, orange blood was splattered all over the pavement and the husk was missing half of its face – a face on a head that was not laying several feet away from his neck. Quirrel took a step back and looked at Tiso, that was standing proudly several feet back.</p><p>“Nyeh,” he said. “Impressed now, aren’t you?”</p><p>“I didn’t expect it.” Quirrel’s eyes were from the blood that dripped from the shield like from the closed jaw of a predator. “That’s a pretty efficient weapon you have there.”</p><p>“I made it myself.”</p><p>Quirrel whistled in admiration. “Really? You’re pulling my leg.”</p><p>“I’m not. I loved making weapons with some of my brothers when I was younger. Of course, a lot of them would break but this one has been doing pretty well so far.”</p><p>“You’ll have to show it to me sometime. I’d love to take a closer look.”</p><p>Quirrel didn’t mean to flatter Tiso, he was genuinely impressed, but he couldn’t stop the other from puffing out his chest proudly. If that meant that he was happy again, Quirrel wouldn’t be taking that away from him.</p><p>He then focused on getting a Vengefly, that he pinned on his nail as it came rushing to him. He offered it to Tiso. Even if there wasn’t much flesh on the flying pests, it was still a snack that could be eaten on the go if one didn’t mind peeling off the shell and the lack of cooking. Tiso practically tore into it as he followed along. His pleased grunts were thanks enough for Quirrel.</p><p>They made their way up, towards the Fungal Wastes. The few husks they couldn’t walk around, they took on together (even if Tiso always tried to steal the show, Quirrel did have a few times where he was allowed to swoop in to land the killing blow) and made quick work of them. It was when they arrived at the gates of the city that they started to have some problems: it was closed.</p><p>“Wyrm,” Quirrel said after he had searched, in vain, for a switch that would open it. “I wonder why this is closed.”</p><p>“What’s that smell?” Tiso asked.  </p><p>“What smell?” Quirrel smelled the air. “Oh, that. You can smell the Fungal Wastes. I know it’s not the most appetizing of scents...”</p><p>“Wait. Does... does the word ‘fungal’ has anything to do with fungus?”</p><p>“Oh, why yes. It’s the adjective of fungus. The Fungal Wastes are choked full of mushrooms, but we need to get through them to get to Fog Canyon.”</p><p>“<em>Mushrooms</em>,” Tiso repeated.</p><p>Quirrel sent him a glance, but the other didn’t elaborate. He had the oddest expression on his face, almost one of... amazement? Surprise? Fear? He couldn’t tell. He went back to looking for a way to get through the gates. Why would they shut it so tight?</p><p>“Maybe if slip a stick under it, and used it as a level... Tiso, can you help me look for a pole of some sort? It ideally should be rather strong.”</p><p>No reply.</p><p>“Tiso?” Quirrel turned around, only to find out that he was now alone. “Tiso, where are you?”</p><p>There was a muffled response from above. Quirrel quickly found the tunnel in the ceiling from which it came from. His companion’s head appeared at the top when he walked under it.</p><p>“Mushrooms!” he cried.</p><p>“Tiso, what in Root are you <em>doing</em>?”</p><p>“Someone dug a tunnel above the door,” he replied. “Come on up!”</p><p>“A <em>tunnel</em>?”</p><p>But Tiso was right. There was indeed a tunnel over the door and that brought them safely to the other side. He dropped in front of a bridge over acid with walls all around made of brambles.</p><p>“I have to admit that I am impressed,” Quirrel said. “I wouldn’t have thought that there already was a way. I was already thinking about doing a detour. I’m glad that it won’t be necessary. Tiso, how did you find it?”</p><p>But Tiso wasn’t listening. He was inspecting the walls very carefully until he made his choice, and picked a mushroom cap. When he shoved it down his face without a care in the world, Quirrel had his answer: bugs generally evolved with the ability to find their favourite food easily.</p><p>“Well I suppose that solves the question of keeping you fed,” Quirrel said.</p><p>“Whoo?” Tiso asked with his mouth full. “Whoo gig yoo sooy?”</p><p>“It’s rude to talk with your mouth full.”</p><p>Tiso shrugged and stuffed another bite in his mouth before rubbing the crumbs off his face. At least he swallowed before talking again.</p><p>“I think I’m going to like this place. More than the City of Crying.”</p><p>“City of Tears.”</p><p>“Whatever. I wonder if there will be other delicious mushrooms somewhere deeper?”</p><p>Tiso excitedly led the way, even if he didn’t know where they were going; he almost rushed off in the wrong direction before Quirrel called him back to tell him that they were going up. And up they went.</p><p>Luckily Tiso had enough brain not to rush to fight the strange creatures of the Waste, instead letting Quirrel take the lead at least once. Then, the moment he had the hang of one, he was the first to rush to fight it, sometimes before Quirrel could react. The eldest of the two had to admit it: Tiso was quite good at fighting when he knew what to expect from an opponent. He was so eager to rush in combat that he oftentimes didn’t take the necessary precautions that might make him anticipate a situation unforeseen, and that was his main weakness.</p><p>He seemed to be aware of that, in a vague, instinctive way. That’s why he didn’t rush his first fight with creatures he had never seen before. Well, with all but one, but the circumstances excused that one slip.</p><p>They had been walking for quite a while already when they came upon an old greenhouse. The heat shot up the moment they stepped past the door, and they looked in surprise to the strange plants that grew in this land of fungus. This had been someone’s house, or project, no doubt. As to where that person was now, they were probably dread or taken, like the mushroom-infected husks they had met on the way had been taken.</p><p>A tragic end for someone so dedicated, thought Quirrel as he admired the way the irrigation system worked. Most of the water in the Waste had been turned acid, so they were probably using a filter of some sort to dispose of drinkable water. How interesting!</p><p>He realized, too late, that he had taken his eyes off Tiso for more than five minutes, and turned around quickly to check on what he was doing. He chuckled when he saw that the other was stalking something of interest: a small mushroom that they had already spotted below, that unrooted itself and ran when it sensed someone approaching it. Tiso had hunted one and had declared its flesh delicious. Quirrel had been nothing but amused by the warrior’s constant culinary exploration (after an initial moment of disgust when he saw him bring anything and everything to his mouth). Seeing him get excited over that was... endearing. Almost cute. For him to rely so much on smell and taste, Quirrel guessed that he must have quite sensitive antennas under his hood.</p><p>He wondered what they looked like. Maybe Tiso would take it off, once day, in Quirrel’s presence, so that he might see.</p><p>The tiny Shrumerling unrooted itself with a squeak and started to scurry away on its tiny legs. Tiso immediately gave chase, all of his attention solely focused on his prey; that’s probably why he didn’t notice the large Shrumal Ogre he was charging towards.</p><p>“Tiso!” Quirrel cried.</p><p>But it was too late. The beast straightened with a sleepy grunt, then slammed its crown down on Tiso. Quirrel cried out when he saw Tiso drop to the ground. Before he knew it, he leapt forward, nail drawn, ready to save his friend away but Tiso, thankfully, rolled out of the way before the second hit dropped.</p><p>Tiso cried something Quirrel didn’t understand – probably an insult in his native tongue – and unleashed his shield’s blades. The deadly whip bit a large chunk out of the giant’s crown, making it cry out in pain and anger. Quirrel used the opportunity to jump in and ornate the creature’s hide with large orange gashes, retreating before it could slam its head down on him. In the brief time before he repeated the manoeuvre, Tiso’s bladed whip whirled past him, stealing another chunk of fresh from the Ogre. Seeing the sort of wounds it left behind was a chilling thing.</p><p>Despite its size, the giant tired quickly when it was bleeding from the multitude of wounds in its hide. Yet, when it fell on its face and stopped moving, it almost came as a surprise for the two of them. They looked at each other, uncertain.</p><p>Tiso was the first to reach. He lifted his shield high and cried out in joy over their victory.</p><p>“Stupid son of a turd,” he said, pointing at the corpse of the creature.</p><p>Then he hunched over and emptied the content of his stomach on the ground.</p><p>“Wyrm,” Quirrel swore.</p><p>He rushed forward, catching Tiso when he fell. He grunted when he received the other’s full weight of the other in his arms, but Tiso was already unconscious. Quirrel’s heard picked up in rate, yet he remained calm as he hurled Tiso over his shoulder, looking for a place for him to rest. He spotted one in the shade and dragged him over, laying him on his side over a cosy bed of moss.</p><p>“Concussion,” he said to himself, without really knowing where that knowledge came from. Maybe from his time as a mercenary, where he had to treat the wounds of his comrades on the fly? “He’s going to need rest to take care of that. Is he comfortable? I need something cool – water. Water will do.”</p><p>As he spoke, he paced nervously around the Greenhouse, trying to calm his nerves down but also looking if the place was really safe. There didn’t seem to be any more Ogres, even if he did spot a few more Shrumerlings that ran away. He wondered if the fact that the air was unusually pure there had anything to do with the size to which the Shrumals grew. One might wonder if the abundance of spores were detrimental to the growth of the creatures themselves... but then he looked at the size of the creature they had just taken down and concluded that it didn’t look made to grow to such a size. Slamming one’s head down on their opponent didn’t seem like a viable fighting tactic unless it was the only one available to it.</p><p>At least Tiso might enjoy the food...</p><p>He eventually found the filter he had guessed existed before, and was glad to see that it had a tap that one could use to take water for themselves. It wasn’t <em>ideal</em>, but it would do. He unwrapped his head covering and wetted it abundantly, before walking back to Tiso.</p><p>The latter had not moved yet, but he seemed to be breathing normally. That was at least a good thing. He reached for his hood before he even realized what he was doing, and then hesitated. Tiso had simply never taken it off. Was it really okay to do that?</p><p>He couldn’t do a compress through Tiso’s hood, he decided. If Quirrel was did something he wasn’t allowed to, he would take the blame for it later.</p><p>Tiso’s face he had already seen, hidden away in the shadow of his hood. What he had no seen were the small antennas with furry tips, that deployed instinctively when they were uncovered. Actually, they were rather cute. They looked like the type that would vibrate very fast when Tiso was sniffing something of interest. Quirrel’s own were a lot more tiresome to work around because of how they waved around instinctively unless restrained. That was why he usually kept them down with a cloth in situations where he might get in a fight. Tiso, on the other hand, wouldn’t have this problem; maybe he covered them out of embarrassment? It was inappropriate to touch someone’s antennas without having the permission, but Quirrel <em>wanted</em> to, they looked so soft.</p><p>Instead, he gently applied the wet cloth to his brow, where he estimated Tiso had taken the hit. He hoped that he would wake up soon, even if it was just to confirm that he was all right.</p><p>His wish was granted a few moments later, when Tiso groaned and flopped on his back. He opened his eyes and closed them immediately, shielding them with his arm.</p><p>“Fucking <em>light</em>,” he groaned. “Too much.”</p><p>“Oh!” Was Tiso sensitive to that because of the hit he had taken? Quirrel looked around for something he could use to protect him.</p><p>“Where’s my hood?” he asked.</p><p>“You hood—Here, here it is.” Quirrel gave it in his hand. “I took it off to apply a wet cloth on your bump.”</p><p>Tiso tried to sit up, but he was stopped by his companion.</p><p>“Stay laying down. I’ll get you something to shield your eyes.” He stood up and went to drag the pot of a plant with large leaves next to Tiso’s head. “It that better?”</p><p>“Nyeh.”</p><p>Quirrel knew that sensitivity to light could be something after a concussion. “How blinding is the light?” he asked.</p><p>“As blinding as usual.”</p><p>“Oh.” Beat. “You are a nocturnal bug?”</p><p>“What other reason did you think I had to always have a hood?”</p><p>“Oh, I don’t know.” Quirrel shrugged. “I thought maybe it was to hide your antennas.”</p><p>Tiso reached up to them when the other mentioned them, as if suddenly self-conscious. “What about them?”</p><p>“Nothing, really.”</p><p>“No no no, you <em>had</em> a reason to think that I would want to hide them. What is it?”</p><p>“I thought maybe they didn’t fit with your tough guy attitude because they are cute,” Quirrel admitted.</p><p>“Cute?” Beat. “They aren’t <em>cute</em>. They are antennas.”</p><p>“I mean... they sort of are.”</p><p>“They’re not! Yours are the one that’s just... wiggling and <em>long</em>.”</p><p>Quirrel waved them, one up, one down, then made a circle. “What about it? Is there a problem with them?”</p><p>“No. But my antennas aren’t cute.”</p><p>“Why not?” Quirrel felt a smile stretch his lips. “They look soft too.”</p><p>“They are not soft <em>either.</em>”</p><p>“Do you touch them sometimes?”</p><p>“What? <em>No</em>. I most certainly do <em>not</em>.” Tiso turned very red. “What sort of question is that?”</p><p>Quirrel blinked, taken aback by the other’s reaction. It was almost as if he was protecting something embarrassing with a lie.</p><p>Different bugs had different erogenous zones. In Quirrel’s species, where they could be used in communication (they waved them around to show their feelings) it would be awkward if there was any sexual connotation around them. But when they were so short that they couldn’t be used for talking, and sensitive...</p><p>“Tiso, are they... did I ask about something sexual?”</p><p>“<em>I don’t want to talk about it.</em>”</p><p>Quirrel would have usually said sorry right away because making someone uncomfortable was never his goal. But there was something so ironic about Tiso getting all flustered over his antennas that he couldn’t help but laugh.</p><p>“Tiso, you don’t mean to tell me that you asked me if we could fuck, <em>twice</em>, then get embarrassed when admitting to me that you masturbate.”</p><p>“It’s not...” He looked down at the ground, embarrassed. “It’s not something you talk about with <em>others</em>.”</p><p>Quirrel chuckled, but he nodded and dropped the subject. Now wasn’t the time to talk about those sort of things – not when Tiso had a concussion, and they were in the middle of nowhere. Not after having rejected his advances on the subject <em>twice</em>. But... he did want to keep talking about it. Just to see Tiso getting flustered.</p><p>Maybe another time.</p><p>Tiso crossed his hands on his stomach and his eyes became distant. Quirrel figured that he was thinking, so he didn’t disturb.</p><p>“Nyeh... What happened exactly?” Tiso asked. “I remember coming in here, but why am I laying down now?”</p><p>“Oh.” That was to be expected as well, said that voice in Quirrel’s head that he knew without recognizing. “You rammed heads with a Shrumal Ogre and fell unconscious when the fight is finished. I think that you have a concussion; you should have lots of rest and avoid moving.”</p><p>“Avoid moving?” he repeated, astonished. “You mean, <em>laying down all day</em>?”</p><p>“Exactly.”</p><p>“That can’t be right.” He tried to sit up and Quirrel rested a hand on his chest to stop him. “I can’t just lay around all day.”</p><p>“Unless you want it to get worse, you’ll have to have lots of rest.”</p><p>“It won’t get <em>worse</em>.”</p><p>“Denying it won’t make it go away, Tiso.”</p><p>“It <em>won’t</em>. I’m not going to lay here until... How long do I have to stay here?”</p><p>“Until you get better.”</p><p>“Well, I’m better <em>now.</em> Let’s go.”</p><p>Quirrel sighed and shook his head. Even if the greenhouse looked like a haven of peace in the middle of the chaos of the Wastes, he knew it to be a deceptive front. Any creature could wander in at any moment, and Ogers were not among the worse of them. He couldn’t even start to imagine what might happen if a mantis found Tiso while he was this vulnerable. He didn’t know if their territory extended this far up but he didn’t want to take the risk of testing it. He needed to be brought to a safe haven if he wanted to recover, and the next place he could think of was their final destination: the Archives themselves.</p><p>Oh, the situation wasn’t desperate yet. He was just worried that it could very quickly become desperate.</p><p>“We’ll have to leave soon anyway,” Quirrel said after a moment of thinking. “But you’ll rest first, and we will have to take frequent breaks to see that you don’t overexert yourself.”</p><p>“I don’t want to.”</p><p>“Also, you can’t fight anything.”</p><p>“<em>What</em>?”</p><p>“I’m not going to take the risk of managing a fainted bug in the middle of the turmoil. The moment there is danger, you’ll have to stay back.”</p><p>“I refuse.”</p><p>“Tiso, I mean it.”</p><p>“No!” Tiso screamed a little too loud for his own taste and winced when his probably growing migraine reminded him of its existence.</p><p>“I swear to Wyrm, Tiso, if you do anything stupid that I told you not to do, I’ll put you to sleep myself. And it’s not going to be the pleasant type of sleeping either.”</p><p>Tiso crossed his arms and looked to the side, pouting for a while – for a while only, because his mind was already dwelling on other thoughts.</p><p>“Did I kill it, at least?”</p><p>Quirrel was about to answer that he had not, not <em>alone</em>, but then he considered how much damage Tiso had made compared to himself, and changed his mind.</p><p>“Yes. You most certainly killed it.”</p><p>Tiso tried not to smile but failed, and his lips stretched wide from the excitement he felt.</p><p>“Did I look hot?” he asked.</p><p>Quirrel chuckled, taken by surprise. Leave it to him to ask those sort of questions.</p><p>“So, was I?”</p><p>“Define hot?”</p><p>“Kicking <em>ass</em>.”</p><p>Quirrel laughed again. Was that why Tiso thought Quirrel was hot? Because he had bested him in combat once? He wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case. After all, this was Tiso we were talking about.</p><p>“Well, in that case, yes,” Quirrel told him when his hilarity calmed down. “Yes, you were, according to that definition.”</p><p>“<em>Really</em>?”</p><p>“But that’s your definition.”</p><p>He smiled smugly. “You think I’m hot.”</p><p>“I didn’t <em>say</em> that.”</p><p>“You can’t take it back now.”</p><p>“I don’t think you got to be good in combat to be hot.”</p><p>Tiso blinked several times. “You don’t?”</p><p>“I don’t. I’m more attracted to thoughtful people. Those that take care of themselves to see that they survive and that let others help them. That’s <em>very</em> attractive to me.”</p><p>Now, that wasn’t exactly the truth, there was more to it, but he did hope that Tiso would fall in that trap. And, even if it seemed very obvious that it was one, Tiso was all too happy to eat the bait, hook and sinker.</p><p>“Really?” he asked.</p><p>“Really.”</p><p>Tiso smiled smugly, as if he had just figured out the riddle that would lead him to heaven. And maybe he had.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Into the Fog</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The trip to the Archives was not harsh, but it most certainly was anguish inducing for Quirrel. He thanked his lucky star many times for having tricked Tiso (for his own good) into being compliant with his treatment. Although he wasn’t very certain that his plan was perfect when Tiso discovered he could get to walk leaning against Quirrel’s shoulder if he complained about being too dizzy – something he used so many times his companion started to doubt its sincerity.</p><p>But despite his worries, the greatest trouble he encountered was to convince Tiso they needed regular breaks, all the way to the Fog Canyon. When he peered down into its glowy depth and heard the low hum of electricity in the air, he knew that they would make it safe – or at least he believed that.</p><p>“This place is weird,” said Tiso. “I don’t like it.”</p><p>“Too much light?”</p><p>“Nah, that’s all right. But it’s all wet and it makes my... antennas... feel weird.” Ever since they had come up in the conversation, Tiso had mentioned his antennas a few times – not without a touch of embarrassment each time.</p><p>Quirrel was starting to get curious about how sensitive they might be. But he wouldn’t touch. Now was not the time.</p><p>“That’s static,” he said.</p><p>“Well, I don’t like it.”</p><p>“So don’t touch any Uoma.”</p><p>“What’s an Uoma?”</p><p>Quirrel pointed at a small jelly, that was passively floating their way. Tiso looked in that direction and gasped.</p><p>“Nyeh. Now that looks <em>really</em> weird.”</p><p>“You can eat the orange core in the centre,” Quirrel said, in the hope that talking about food might spark the other’s interest.</p><p>It sparkled it a little too much because, before he knew it, Tiso was gingerly reaching for it. Quirrel smacked the back of his hand.</p><p>“I said don’t <em>touch it</em>,” he scolded. “It will shock you.”</p><p>“But I want to eat it.”</p><p>“Then I’ll show you how to do it.” He unsheathed his nail. “You can’t be touching the ground when you hit it, so you got to jump. The metal of a nail is usually not conductive enough to let the electricity travel through, but I don’t know about your shield.”</p><p>Tiso stared at him. Quirrel saw in his eyes that he was currently processing the information that he had been given. It took a while.</p><p>“My shield protects me from everything,” he finally said. “Even electricity.”</p><p>“Well, if it’s the case, you shouldn’t need to jump before hitting—”</p><p>Tiso struck the tiny creature with the edge of his shield. And he did strike it – only the Uoma struck back, the electric arc shooting through the air with a loud <em>tak! </em>that startled Quirrel. Tiso cried in surprised and dropped his weapon, before reaching up to his forehead to cover his poor antennas. As mean as that might sound, Quirrel had to stop himself from laughing. To his credit, he knew that Uoma shocks weren’t dangerous – just painful.</p><p>Instead, he leaned down to be at Tiso’s. “Are you all right?”</p><p>“Yes,” said the other between gritted teeth. “I’m fine.”</p><p>He obviously wasn’t, but Quirrel wasn’t going to dispute that. He dropped the matter and went to get the small orange core that had rolled to the side, knowing that Tiso always perked up when given food.</p><p>“I think it’s time that we take a break,” Quirrel said. Tactfully, he left out the part about how the break was for Tiso alone. “That way, we can rest, maybe take a nap. We’re not that far anymore, but there are some tricky parts.”</p><p>“We always do rests,” complained Tiso as he flopped down against a rocky wall. “When are we even arriving in this place you talked about? This, uh, monastery.”</p><p>“It’s an archive.”</p><p>“Same thing.”</p><p>“It’s not—you know what, whatever you say, Tiso.”</p><p>Tiso looked up, hand still on his forehead. “What’s the difference?”</p><p>“Well, for once, a monastery would be religious.” Quirrel was surprised that Tiso cared, but he was willing to explain anyway. “An Archive is a place where you store information.”</p><p>A pang of pain tightened his heart when he thought about the one that had been storing said information. He didn’t even know if he had the strength to go back there. Why was he even trying?</p><p>He should be ditching Tiso already. And then, he should go back to Blue Lake. Right now, he was doing nothing but cheating, extending a life that had no reason to continue. His duty was done! What more could he possibly want? To suffer more than he had already? To return to his life of wandering?</p><p>He was overcome by a wave of despair at that moment. He almost called quits right then. Almost.</p><p>“Let me show you how you eat a Uoma core,” he said instead.</p><p>He sat down next to Tiso, long legs crossed, and started to peel the core – a bit like an orange.</p><p>“There’s a pouch under it,” he said, “that’s poisonous. You don’t want to eat that.” He pulled it away and threw it down the pit. “It would give your mouth and stomach bad acid burns. But the rest is safe.”</p><p>He placed it in Tiso’ hand. The latter examined. The talk about acid burns seemed to have cooled down his eagerness to bring anything eatable to his mouth.</p><p>“What is that part?” he asked.</p><p>“That’s actually the Uoma in itself. You popped the outer envelope, that really was a pouch of gas-filled with static.”</p><p>Tiso sunk his thumbs in the soft flesh and parted it, revealing juicy pinkish insides.</p><p>“It has no organs,” he said.</p><p>“It doesn’t.”</p><p>“How does it <em>work</em>?” he asked.</p><p>“I don’t know, it just—“</p><p>
  <em>There are organs. You just can’t see them, because they are many cell-sized glands secreting what it needs – even some neurons among them.</em>
</p><p>“Hey, are you all right?” Tiso asked.</p><p>Quirrel shook his head. “Yeah, I am.”</p><p>“Your head said no. You look like you saw a ghost.”</p><p>“I’m fine.”</p><p>Tiso opened his mouth to protest, seemed to think better of it, and closed it. Quirrel was grateful that he didn’t press the matter further. He didn’t want to talk about it <em>her.</em> Not now. Not ever, if he could help it.</p><p>Tiso bit into the Uoma core. Juice squirted on his face and cheeks, dripping down his chin, and he grunted in pleasure. He devoured the core, stuffing his mouth full, not caring about the pink blood that was getting everywhere. He looked decadent and gross. Quirrel couldn’t take his eyes off him. He had not noticed how sexual Tiso sounded when he ate.</p><p>It teased something in him.</p><p>Tiso wiped his mouth when he was done. That pulled Quirrel out of his staring, and he quickly picked a few leaves to help him wipe. Except he didn’t just help him, he cupped his cheek in his face and wiped him down himself. Tiso let him do, but he was trying not to smile. They both knew that he loved the attention.</p><p>“I still feel a little electrical,” Tiso said. “It’s weird.”</p><p>“Really?” Quirrel said. “Let me touch.”</p><p>Shock passed on Tiso’s face, but he didn’t protest. He lowered his head a little and allowed Quirrel to slip his hand under the rim of his hood.</p><p>There were indeed soft, just like Quirret had guessed, the sensitive hairs on them alert like whiskers. They were shaking a little – all of Tiso seemed to be shaking a little – and jerked when they were first brushed, but didn’t shy away when Quirrel insisted.</p><p>Tiso drew in a shaky, shaky breath and closed his eyes, before placing his own hands on Quirrel’s shoulders and leaning closer. Such simple gestures, yet they betrayed how much he craved it, the attention, the contact. He always seemed to be so deprived of those things, despite how much of a tough guy he pretended to be. It drew Quirrel in, closer than he planned. Not that he was against it.</p><p>He leaned to kiss Tiso.</p><p>The other didn’t react, probably too shocked for that, but he didn’t pull away. Quirrel kept it short and chaste, but he didn’t back away. Tiso opened his eyes and looked in Quirrel’s.</p><p>He was the one that kissed him again. His hands shot up to cup the eldest’s cheeks, to hold him close, and he sank in the embrace like a man lost at sea on the welcoming beach of a long-awaited island. Their lips moved against one another, learning what the other felt like on the fly, before they parted and their tongue mingled. Quirrel heard Tiso’s breath staggered and broke as he fell apart in his arms.</p><p>And Quirrel held him very close.</p><p>He was the one that broke the kiss first, but it was to angle his head up, lifting the cloth of the hood to have access to Tiso’s antennas. The other bug produced a high keening sound when they were licked, not even shy about how much he loved it. Quirrel loved it, so he continued, maybe a bit longer than he intended, until he decided that Tiso was getting a little too excited, and drew back.</p><p>Tiso didn’t agree. He pushed Quirrel, making him fall on his back with him on all fours above him, looking down. And then Quirrel was kissed again, a tongue plundering into his mouth. Tiso used strength on him, desperate, needy strength, and Quirrel let him do one last time before pushing him off.</p><p>“We can’t do more here,” he said.</p><p>“Fuck you.”</p><p>“I’m serious, Tiso. Here is not the place for us to get too distracted.”</p><p>Tiso got off from Quirrel. The latter saw him wince before he turned away against the wall. Was his headache back at it again? Tiso might like being taken care off, but he was really stubborn about admitting that his head was hurting.</p><p>“We need to get you somewhere safe,” Quirrel said. “And you need rest. Not... excitement.”</p><p>“It’s always the same thing. I got it.”</p><p>Quirrel sighed and moved to sit behind him. He passed an arm over his waist and was not rejected, so he curled in closer.</p><p>“We’ll be more comfortable and safer at the Archive,” he said. “I promise. But now, you got to get some rest, maybe even sleep if you can.”</p><p>Tiso was quiet for a while.</p><p>“Can you stay like that, then?” he said. “I... I sort of like it when you hold me.”</p><p>“Of course. I’ll hold you as long as you like.”</p><p> </p><p>The most dangerous part that remained was the drop that came just after the place they had elected for their rest. There were arcs of current shooting through the air, created by a natural phenomena that was a mystery even for Quirrel, and floating Oomas, and if they slipped and fall there was the acid at the bottom. No scenario involving the acid played out well in Quirrel’s mind.</p><p>But Tiso seemed to be careful, for once, and they arrived at the bottom with no inconvenience. That is when they arrived at an ancient gazebo, built quite a while back but meant to resist the passage of time. Uomas floated between the bars, drifting gently as they did. Tiso licked his lips.</p><p>“Please be careful this time,” Quirrel said. “The last thing you need is to get shocked again.”</p><p>“Don’t tell me what to do,” he grumbled, before going to get some food.</p><p>What Quirrel didn’t tell him was that the Archive was right around the corner; walking two minutes more would end their journey. Instead, he sat down and watched Tiso prowl across the gazebo, taking down the Uomas one by one, and distracted himself by watching him. Whether the other was aware that he was being watched or not, Quirrel couldn’t tell. He was just grateful for the respite if that meant it would keep him away from the Archive a while longer.</p><p>What was he even doing here? It felt to him as if he had asked himself that question a thousand times already. Who was he even doing this for? Not for himself. For Tiso? Did he even like Tiso enough to be willing to stay alive for him?</p><p>Apparently, he liked him enough to kiss him, so maybe there was some truth to that. Maybe he really was doing it for that idiot. If he wasn’t there anymore, who would stop him from running back to the Coliseum and get himself killed? Tiso, the child among all the other children of his father, the son of a duke with no title to his name. Quirrel doubted many would cry his death.</p><p>But Quirrel would if was still alive.</p><p>“Do you want one?” Tiso asked as he brought him an Uoma core.</p><p>“Oh. Thank you.” Quirrel accepted the present.</p><p>“I kept the very best one for you,” Tiso proudly said.</p><p>“Really?”</p><p>“Absolutely. It’s the fattest.”</p><p>Quirrel chuckled, but really, he was touched by the gesture. He wordlessly ate the core as Tiso sat next to him, savouring the juicy flesh. When he was done, he wiped his mouth clean, then turned to Tiso to do the same to him – he always seemed to forget to do that.</p><p>“You know,” Quirrel said, “this trip might have been short, but it’s the most colourful I’ve ever had—that I can remember, at least. I got you to thank for that.”</p><p>“Really?”</p><p>“Yes. You’re very entertaining.”</p><p>Tiso didn’t seem sure if that was a veiled mockery or a compliment. He opened his mouth and narrowed his eyes, thinking hard about it.</p><p>“The Coliseum is a place of entertainment, after all,” Quirrel said.</p><p>“No, it’s not. It’s a place of glory.”</p><p>“It’s entertainment. That’s what it was founded for.”</p><p>“You don’t know that.”</p><p>Quirrel looked up, at an electrical arch that sometimes cracked near the top of the gazebo. He supposed that some of the metal was conductive so that it would act as a lightning rod and keep the people under it safe.</p><p>“I do, actually,” Quirrel said. “The Coliseum of Fools was founded in the second half of the Pale King’s rule, during the highest time of prosperity. Many rich people sought novelty to entertain themselves, and many poor bugs that had been broken by years of tolling and sought ways to gain more riches – willing to pay with their lives for it. At first, it was only animal against animal, but then it moved from higher bug against animal, and then... Well, now they are up to higher bug against higher bug. But the public is still the same.”</p><p>“It’s still for glory.”</p><p>“Glory in the eyes of whom? The bugs that watch is the former elite of the City of Tears. As far as they are concerned, they bought your life with the price ticket. You are below them in every way.”</p><p>Tiso remained quiet for a while, then stood up.</p><p>“You are lying,” he said. “I know you are. It’s because you don’t like the place. But it’s all right because whatever you say doesn’t change the facts.”</p><p>“Tiso—“</p><p>“I don’t want to talk. Let’s go. Are we still far from the monastery?”</p><p>“Archive.”</p><p>“Are we?”</p><p>“No. No, it’s just around the corner.”</p><p>“Then let’s go!” Tiso raised his shield, his earlier grumpiness already forgotten, and Quirrel had to smile. Here they went, then.</p><p> </p><p>“Wow,” said Tiso, looking up at the large building in the middle of the acid lake.</p><p>Quirrel smiled, despite himself. He remembered the time where he would be greeting young students to the Archive on the behalf of Monomon; Tiso’s face reminded him of them at the moment. Those were good memories, he thought. Strange how they only seemed to come back to him now, and not before.</p><p>“That’s a really big house,” Tiso said, turning around to Quirrel. “I haven’t seen—“ He stopped himself there, paused, then continued, “I haven’t seen something as big since I left home.”</p><p>“Well, it’s not exactly a house. It holds many important things.”</p><p>“Oh? Treasure?” Tiso seemed excited.</p><p>“In a way, yes.” Quirrel smiled. He knew that it was cruel to set up his friend like that, but he couldn’t resist. “It holds knowledge.”</p><p>“Know—<em>Kowledge? </em>Nyeh—Erk. That’s <em>boring</em>. Why did I even drag my ass all the way here for some stupid giant house full of knowledge?”</p><p>Quirrel started to laugh.</p><p>“It’s not funny!” Tiso said. He waved around his shield. “You can talk, you <em>like</em> boring stuff!”</p><p>“Knowledge is far from boring. You should try gathering some.”</p><p>“Hah! I’d much rather do something with my life. Last thing I would want to do is spend all of it doing nothing!”</p><p>“Monomon wouldn’t agree with that.”</p><p>The moment the name breached Quirrel’s lips, he regretted it. What did it matter if he said her name here? She was gone.</p><p>“Hah! Who is this Monomo person? I’ll fight them in a duel! We’ll see who comes out as the victor then!” Tiso turned to the Archive, holding his shield over his head and screaming at the top of his lungs. “My name is Tiso! I come to challenge Monomo! Unless they are a coward! Which they are!”</p><p>“You can’t fight them, Tiso,” Quirrel said, annoyed.</p><p>“Why <em>not</em>?” Tiso huffed. “You can’t tell <em>me</em> what to do, you’re not my father.”</p><p>“Monomon is dead.”</p><p>Beat.</p><p>“Oh. I see.” Tiso scratched his head. “Well, I guess that’s why I can’t challenge them.”</p><p>“She used to be the greatest teacher in all the land.” Quirrel looked up at the replica of her mask hanging over the door. “And my master.”</p><p>“What? She was a knight? The knight that taught you?”</p><p>“No? No! No, she wasn’t. She was my master after the knight.” It was true that Tiso had not been interested in hearing the story of his life after that part. “When I was a mercenary, we were attacked in Hallownest and I was gravely wounded. She took me in while I recovered, and I stayed. That’s how we first met.”</p><p>Tiso seemed dumbstruck by the revelation. He looked at the mask, then at Quirrel.</p><p>“Wait—“ he said. “She’s the one you came back to Hallownest for. The one that died. Right?”</p><p>“Oh— I told you about that?”</p><p>“At the lake.”</p><p>“That’s right.” Beat. “I forgot that. Seems I’ve been chatting quite a lot with you.”</p><p>“But I like talking with you. Even if you are annoying sometimes, you’re mostly interesting.”</p><p>“Thank you. You’re quite interesting as well.”</p><p>“I am?” Tiso had the galls to be amazed by this statement – how oblivious could he become? “I’m not like, boring, to you, because you know so much?”</p><p>“No? You’re not. I don’t care about how much you know. I think you have a... a <em>vibrant</em> presence.”</p><p>Tiso stared at him.</p><p>“A colourful personality?”</p><p>“Oh?”</p><p>“I mean that you are fun to be with.”</p><p>“Oh!” Finally, a flash of understanding crossed the other’s face, and he seemed pleased.</p><p>Quirrel chuckled to himself and shook his head. Just like that, his previous bad mood had evaporated. And while he still felt sad... at least he wasn’t alone. And that was what mattered most.</p><p>“Shall we head inside?” Quirrel asked. “It will be more comfortable. There is everything we should need, bed included.”</p><p>“A bed?” Tiso echoed. “A <em>double</em> bed?”</p><p>“Only individual beds.” Quirrel couldn’t help but grin. “For your recovery. I don’t know what you’ve been imagining.”</p><p>“Oh, I want to use them for a lot more than my recovery.”</p><p>“Your health comes first.”</p><p>Tiso wiggled his eyebrows and Quirrel couldn’t help but laugh. But when the first stepped closer to the latter, he escaped by walking under the entrance’s arch and on the low bridge over the lake. Plants hung over him, filling the air with the scent of their heavy flowers, and all around was the familiar hiss of the acidic water.</p><p>This had been his home.</p><p>Tiso caught up with him with a huff. He was not done talking about bed activities.</p><p>“Hey, a guy can hope,” he said. “Especially since that kiss.”  He liked his lips as if still hoping to taste it there. “Does that mean you trust me enough now? To do things?”</p><p>“There’s no space for two on one bed, I’ll let you know.”</p><p>“All we need space for one. I can go on top.”</p><p>“I don’t think so. And, by the way, I go on top.”</p><p>“No way.” Tiso laughed. “You’re too much of a pushover.”</p><p>“Is that a challenge?”</p><p>Quirrel turned around. Tiso smirked and looked at him right in the eyes.</p><p>“Maybe it is,” Tiso said. “But we both know who would win.”</p><p>Quirrel chuckled and dropped the subject. He was serious about allowing Tiso some time to recover, especially after their tiring trip. He needed rest. Quirrel wasn’t going to ruin that by making him dance a whole session of horizontal mambo.</p><p>Even if he wanted to.</p><p>They stepped inside and crossed the vast entrance hall from one side to the other. Once they reached the opposite wall, Quirrel found a notch in it, that he pressed; a panel moved to the side, revealing a curtain of light chains over a passage.</p><p>“Nice to see the mechanism still works,” he said to himself.</p><p>“What’s the chains for?” asked Tiso.</p><p>“To keep the jellies out. Sometimes they can make their way in here from outside. They discharge as soon as they touch them and their outer envelope pops.”</p><p>“Oh. Neat.”</p><p>“Isn’t it?” Quirrel parted them and stepped in his old living quarters.</p><p>It was most certainly dusty, but nothing had been touched. The first thing he did was to go open the window and make sure that the metal screen was well adjusted so that no jelly could come in from outside. He did the same with the others and inspected the place as he went.</p><p>This used to be the quarters where the bugs staying at the Archive could sleep, and used to be the living place for Monomon’s students, Quirrel included. There was a large common room, an eating room next to a kitchen, a bathroom, and several rooms, each with two beds. No food anywhere, but the water filter still worked perfectly, meaning that they could drink from the tap. (The security system was made so that all water would shut down if there was a problem with the filter, so that one didn’t take any risk checking manually.) The second thing that Quirrel did after his inspection was to pick a room for Tiso, take out sheets and make a bed for him, before he went to fetch the convalescent bug – that was looking through the kitchen cabinets for something to eat.</p><p>“Are you hungry? I’ll go and hunt something for you if you are,” said Quirrel. “I made your bed.”</p><p>Tiso looked back at him before beaming.</p><p>“Don’t get any ideas,” Quirrel added.</p><p>Tiso’s smile vanished. “Fucking tease,” he grumbled.</p><p>“I’m not doing this to annoy you, Tiso. You are in no state for that.”</p><p>“Oh, so, I’m in the state to walk all the way to this boring monast—Archive in the middle of Wyrm’s asshole, but not in the state to fuck.”</p><p>“That’s the point. You need to recover from walking.”</p><p>“I feel <em>fine</em>.” Tiso slammed a cabinet shut to emphasis his point.</p><p>“Tiso,” Quirrel said in a warning tone. “I’ll be not having a tantrum from you. You’re not a pulpa anymore.”</p><p>Tiso grumbled, crossed his arms, but didn’t say anything more. Quirrel nodded and turned around to lead him to his room. He closed the window when he arrived, plunging the space in semi-darkness for Tiso’s comfort.</p><p>“I’ve given the bigger one to you,” he said. “And I’ll be sleeping across the hallway.”</p><p>Tiso laid down on the blanket to stare at the ceiling. Quirrel approached him and sad on the edge of the bed.</p><p>“I’m just worried for your health,” he said.</p><p>“At least kiss me.”</p><p>That he could do. He leaned down; Tiso practically pounced on him and pulled him down. Their lips crashed. Tiso clung to him like a drowning man to a raft, groaning weakly against him, but it was Quirrel that was swept away.</p><p>He did his best to keep up. But what Tiso lacked in experience, he made up for it in enthusiasm, as if he wanted to drink in Quirrel’s very essence to keep it inside of him. His hands grabbed the other’s back firmly, refusing to let him go, and when their lips parted it was only so he could kiss a trail down Quirrel’s throat.</p><p>“Tiso, stop,” he warned.</p><p>But the other wasn’t listening. Gone was the confident bug from before, all was left was a desperate kitten. Quirrel pulled himself away; when he was held in place, he grabbed Tiso’s arms and forced him to release him.</p><p>Tiso froze when he met Quirrel’s harsh gaze. They held that position a few seconds before Quirrel slowly let go of Tiso’s wrists and stood up. And then he turned around, and left the room, and Tiso didn’t follow him.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. In your Arms</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They didn’t speak much after this incident.</p><p>At least Tiso was no longer constantly pushing the limit. He accepted the compresses, and he accepted the attention, and he didn’t move from his bed, and Quirrel wanted to tell him that he was proud of him, but breaking the silence would have been... too much for them. For the two of them. So he didn’t. Because words had power, and giving them the one of being between them might draw more words, words Quirrel was scared of what might come out of them. He had already taken a decision. He was fine. Absolutely fine! He didn’t need to change his mind.</p><p>Not even for Tiso.</p><p>Who knew what Tiso himself thought about the situation. Quirrel liked to believe that he was only angry about the rejection; that he wasn’t used to being rejected; that the only thing hurt was his ego. He was a handsome bug. Strong. Well built. With a beautiful smile. He <em>had</em> to be vain and entitled, as Quirrel believed beautiful people were. And Quirrel did his best to believe that even when he caught sight of the sadness in the other’s face.</p><p>But it wasn’t easy. He thought of other things instead.</p><p>Monomon had become a refuge. He remembered her, and he remembered the things she had taught him. In time, it became easier. It was as if his memories had never left but had just been staying here, in the Archive, waiting for him to come back.</p><p>He was starting to understand her more. There had been a time where she had once been nothing but a Uoma like the others that mindlessly floated around, a being with a mind but no identity. Then the Pale King had come to her and had chosen her, among all her siblings, to bear his light.</p><p>By offering herself up to becoming a Dreamer, Quirrel realized during one of his wandering in the undergrounds of the building, she was only giving back what she had borrowed. Maybe that was why she had been so peaceful when all her students had been so torn. Maybe that was why she felt so willing. She had been an accident, almost, a thing that was not meant to be.</p><p>Did that make the work of her life, her hopes and dreams, wrong? Did it take away from who she had been? Never, thought Quirrel. She had her own merit. He still thought that the Pale King had had no right to claim her for his folly. And should the Wyrm himself emerge from the ground in front of him, he would still blame him for choosing this solution. Surely there was another way than sacrifice, was there?</p><p>But he could see her point of view a little clearer. And it helped with the pain of her absence.</p><p>Tiso was recovering well from his hit; that at least was something to rejoice over. In fact, he was doing so well that Quirrel could hardly protest to him being up and about. He went on walks, sometimes, armed with his shield, on the condition that he didn’t wander off too far. He had kept his promise up to now. Besides, it did him great good to be away from Quirrel for a while, with how much tension was between them.</p><p>It was at the return of one of those walks, however, that he caught Quirrel outside. He stopped in his tracks and pointed at him.</p><p>“I want to collect what you promised me,” he said.</p><p>Quirrel sent him a confused look. “What I promised?”</p><p>“The fight!”</p><p>Quirrel frowned. “I never said that I would fight you.”</p><p>“You did. And you promised. Can’t break your promises. That wouldn’t be very <em>scholarly</em> of you.”</p><p>Despite the mood, Quirrel had to chuckle. “Scholarly? I don’t think that you are using this word correctly, Tiso.”</p><p>“Of course I am!” he protested. He stomped his foot. “You’re a scholar, and they never break their promise! It’s against their religion. They got to be trustworthy.”</p><p>“Tiso, scholars are not <em>monks</em>. I’m not religious.”</p><p>“Nyeh, of course you’re <em>not</em>, or you wouldn’t have kissed me. I’m not stupid!”</p><p>“Scholars are not religious.”</p><p>“That doesn’t even matter.” Tiso threw his hands in the air. “Are you telling me that you don’t want to hold your promise?”</p><p>“I never said that.”</p><p>“Then fight me!”</p><p>“I never said that I would—“</p><p>“Fight me!”</p><p>“I was say—“</p><p>“Fight me!” </p><p>“Tiso can I—“</p><p>“<em>Fight me</em>!”</p><p>Quirrel couldn’t hold it any longer: he burst in laughter. Tiso was so stubborn sometimes that it was downright adorable, or at least Quirrel he thought it was. He wasn’t quite sure if stubbornness was supposed to be adorable. Tiso stood there, watching him with a straight face, probably wondering what had earned him Quirrel’s hilarity.</p><p>“All right,” the latter eventually said. “I’ll fight you, even if I never said I would.”</p><p>“You did.”</p><p>“You’re getting what you want. Why are you still maintaining that?”</p><p>“Because you did.”</p><p>“I know I didn’t because I would have only promised that if you would have said please. And I think that I would remember something so rare.”</p><p>Tiso was very quiet for a moment, his face expressionless. Then he mumbled sometimes.</p><p>“What was that?”</p><p>“Please,” he said in a very low voice.</p><p>Quirrel grinned and took a few steps forward. “Please... what?”</p><p>“Please, can we fight?”</p><p>Quirrel was shocked to hear those words cross Tiso’s lips: it was the first time that they did so willingly. He didn’t know what to make of it, but he wasn’t going to complain. In fact, he quickly caught himself gawking and smiled instead, and he was genuinely pleased.</p><p>“Of course,” he said.</p><p>“Wh—Nyeh? Just like that?”</p><p>“<em>En guard</em>, as they say.” Quirrel drew his nail and took on a defensive pose. “I just want that we agree one some things.”</p><p>“<em>Oh</em>.” Tiso scrambled to pretend as if he had not been shocked by the other’s acceptance. “Well, sure? Just tell.”</p><p>“You don’t deploy your weapon,” Quirrel said. “I’m not quite sure that I can parry that, and I would like to keep my face.”</p><p>Tiso grinned. “I’m stronger than you.”</p><p>“In exchange, I won’t use my jumps.”</p><p>“I can parry your jumping.”</p><p>Quirrel just smiled.</p><p>“I <em>can</em>.”</p><p>“I’m not saying anything.”</p><p>“You have that look.”</p><p>“What look?”</p><p>Tiso pointed as Quirrel’s face – as if Quirrel could see his own face. “<em>That one</em>.”</p><p>“Do you mean a smug look?”</p><p>“<em>You’re being smug?</em>”</p><p>“Because I don’t think you can parry my jump attacks. I’ve met very few that can.”</p><p>“Well, <em>I</em> didn’t many people that could parry my weapon when whipping it out – and it’s really deadly! So you better watch out!”</p><p>“I thought we were agreeing that you wouldn’t use it?”</p><p>“I—“</p><p>Tiso was tripping over his words, huffing and puffing, and Quirrel was having the time of his life. Tiso was a lot of fun to tease, it was made even better by the fact that he would be over it in less than five minutes. Quirrel usually wasn’t the type to poke fun at someone, but Tiso—Well, for lack of better words, he was special. And to see him getting flustered over trivial things, trying to justify himself, made the elder fell warm in the chest.</p><p>“Let’s forget that,” he said, “and just agree. We’ll see who’s the strongest through practice.”</p><p>“Nyeh!”</p><p>And there it was: already forgotten. All that was left was his eagerness to get in a fighting pose and wait for his opponent to be as ready as he was.</p><p>They threw themselves against one another. It was true that Quirrel’s looked like he fought with an advantage, having a nail with sharp edges, but Tiso could use the edge of his shield as a blunt weapon, as well as his own strength – and he had quite a bit of the latter. Quirrel owed it to his quick footwork not to get hit when his guard failed to stop a strike.</p><p>It became clear that Tiso played on his endurance to win. Because he could be on the defensive, he didn’t have to move around. Quirrel, on the other hand, had to dance around his opponent constantly, and he wasn’t used to this sort of fighting style. With his jumps, he could strike and retreat, strike and retreat, either aiming for the fatal blow or wearing out opponents. Quirrel was tiring.</p><p>And distracted.</p><p>Tiso was handsome, that much was clear in Quirrel’s mind. He had not noticed at first (that wasn’t what he was most concerned with in people), but after he had it snuck on him in the most unexpected of times – like now. His eyes were intense, and he was so focused that he didn’t realize that he bit his lip in concentration. Quirrel couldn’t help but wonder how he would look if that focus was broken, and then how it might be broken. After all, Tiso didn’t cope well with unexpected situations.</p><p>The most cliché of ideas came to his mind. He ran with it anyway.</p><p>But for that to happen, he played it risky. He narrowly dodged a swing of Tiso’s shield, twisting himself into his guard. His nail, thankfully, bounced against the inside of the shield when Tiso drew it back, stopping it from wracking Quirrel in the head.</p><p>Then Quirrel kissed Tiso.</p><p>He didn’t really have the liberty of playing it soft: he smacked their lips against one another. But it worked, and Tiso’s focus was broken as he stumbled back, looking at Quirrel in complete shock.</p><p>The problem was that Quirrel’s focus was just as gone at Tiso’s. It didn’t matter. The mood had changed drastically. Quirrel took a small step forward. He wanted an encore.</p><p>“No,” Tiso said, raising his shield between them. “No, no, no. Not again. And then you’re going to have some excuse to leave me waiting and—no.”</p><p>Quirrel bit his lip. He... should have expected that. Usually, he would listen to a no and back away -but not this time. He was as tired of their dancing around each other as Tiso was.</p><p>“Not this time,” he said.</p><p>Tiso frowned, confused.</p><p>“I want you, Tiso.” Quirrel tried to say that as neutrally as possible, but Wyrm, it was hard not to get embarrassed. But he had to insist. He remembered their kisses. The way Tiso could hold on to him chased him in his dreams at night. “Take me to bed... please?”</p><p>Tiso lowered his shield. He looked like he had just heard the most improbable of things – to him, that had waited so long, it might have been.</p><p>He didn’t reply, but he took a step forward, to stand close to Quirrel. He placed a hand on his hip and wasn’t stopped. Taking it as an invitation, he wrapped his arm around the other and pulled him in so that their chest rested against one another, and kissed Quirrel.</p><p>The latter groaned in approval and sank deeper into his hold, opening his mouth to careful investigation when probed. Their tongues met and stroke one another. Tiso, testing if he could, plunged his in Quirrel’s mouth like he would a dick; Quirrel sucked on it docilely.</p><p>Tiso drew back.</p><p>“Really?” he asked.</p><p>Quirrel bit his lip. He was so adorable. Gone was the bitterness of being rejected over and over, replaced by awe.</p><p>“Unless you don’t want,” Quirrel answered.</p><p>Tiso laughed in reply. He dropped his shield, so he could use both hands to support Quirrel, and dipped him down – like in a dance – before kissing him breathless. Quirrel gasped, but mostly from the sensation of his heart fluttering in his chest than the fear of being dropped. And when he wrapped his hands around Tiso’s neck, it was only to deepen their kiss.</p><p>It was regretfully that they parted to get some much-needed air. They straightened, and Quirrel laid his hands on Tiso’s cheeks to draw him back in. That last kiss was tender, sweet – Quirrel saying with gestures what he was still too embarrassed to say in words. Somehow, it left Tiso even more breathless than the other two.</p><p>“Wow,” he said. “Really.”</p><p>“Worth the wait?”</p><p>“Nyeh,” Tiso regained some of his composure, “yes, I expected it to happen eventually. They <em>do</em> call me the Conqueror.”</p><p>Quirrel chucked.</p><p>“And also,” Tiso added, unperturbed, “I won, so I top.”</p><p>Quirrel snorted. “You won?”</p><p>“You didn’t resist my boyish charms.” Tiso gave Quirrel his widest smile, and Quirrel had to admit to himself that he was right. “When you can’t decide who tops and who bottoms, the best way to know is a duel.”</p><p>Quirrel repressed the urge to laugh out loud. “All right, that’s fair. But I’ll accept it on one condition: I ride you.”</p><p>“You ride me,” repeated Tiso, before cackling as a gremlin would.</p><p>Quirrel took it as a yes.</p><p>Tiso seemed impatient – understandably – about taking Quirrel back inside. Grabbing him by the hand, he led him to the bridge of the Archive. Quirrel glanced back, spotting Tiso’s shield on the ground, and almost told the other that he was leaving his precious weapon behind, but didn’t. They could get it later, when they didn’t have anything more urgent to do.</p><p>They crossed the hall and went through the metal curtain, into the Archive’s living quarters. However, when they came in sight of Tiso’s room, the latter started to hesitate, visibly nervous. Quirrel took the lead from there, became the first to enter the room, turned to Tiso and pushed him on the bed.</p><p>Quirrel was also nervous, but he knew how to hide that – contrary to Tiso, he was rather good at hiding his true state of mind. He leaned over the other, hands on both sides of his chest, and drank in the sigh of Tiso’s aroused face in the dim light. The shutters were closed and the only luminous source came from the hallway, through the half-shut doorway. So Quirrel reached for Tiso’s hood and undid the buttons under his chin, uncovering the rest of his head and, most importantly, his quivering antennas.</p><p>“Fuck,” muttered Tiso. His hands slid up Quirrel’s back, appreciating the feeling of it. “It’s happening.”</p><p>“You’re so cute,” answer Quirrel.</p><p>That didn’t please Tiso, but before he could protest the other was closing his lips around one of his antennas. The reaction was instantaneous. Tiso’s hiccupped while his hands grappled for something to hold on Quirrel’s back. He tried to press himself closer, as if it would encourage Quirrel to give him more – as if he was going to hold back.</p><p>This sort of play was rather new to the eldest, so he experimented with careful exploration. He swirled his tongue around it, stroking it with care but firmly. This owned him a moan, unless it was the sound of Tiso’s brain melting with pleasure, so he continued. Bracing himself on the bed with one elbow, he reached for the other antenna to stoke it. Tiso produced a high-pitched keening sound.</p><p>Quirrel smiled when he heard the other grow weaker and weaker from his attention. He lowered his hips, flushing his crotch against the one of the other; they were both hot down their, their shell plates ablaze with desire, but not quite bothered yet. Tiso reached down to hold Quirrel against him there before he escaped, his hips twitching with the need to grind against him.</p><p>Tiso groaned in need when Quirrel pulled away from his antennas. Quirrel ignored it, as well as he ignored the way the other arched against him in a silent plea to continue, because he wanted to get rid of his bandana and free his won antenna. But that didn’t mean he didn’t notice, and gentle desperation of Tiso pleased him.</p><p>Quirrel kissed him to pacify him. This marked a short silence in their making out as they were entirely occupied with tasting each other’s lips and tongue. Quirrel curled his antennas to poke at Tiso’s and drank down the moan he produced when he stroked them.</p><p>“Fuck,” muttered Tiso when he broke the kiss. “Quirrel, I— Lube. In my drawer.”</p><p>That took Quirrel out of it for a bit. He backed away to look down at Tiso, surprised. “Where did you find lube?”</p><p>Tiso seemed embarrassed, but he answered anyway. “Well, I rummaged in the storage room for something like that to, erm...” He stopped.</p><p>“To masturbate?”</p><p>“Don’t—Don’t say it like that!”</p><p>Quirrel laughed. “Why are you embarrassed?”</p><p>“Well, I just—You don’t talk about that.”</p><p>“Sorry to point it to you, but we’re about to have sex.” Quirrel leaned over to the drawer, opened it, and grabbed the lube. “Now is the time to talk about it, hmm?”</p><p>Tiso remained quiet. It was hard to see in the dark, but there was no missing the deep shade of red on his cheeks.</p><p>“Oh Wyrm,” Quirrel said. “You’re too much.” He leaned down and nuzzled him in the neck, making Tiso draw a quick breath when he kissed him there. “How about you tell me about what you think about when you touch yourself.”</p><p>“Not... not <em>much</em>,” admitted Tiso. “I just... I think about you. And, er, that it’s your hand that’s—that’s on me. And then we have sex.”</p><p>Quirrel shut his eyes, grinning like a madman. This was adorable. He didn’t know what sort of experience Tiso had had before this, but it was becoming more and more apparent that he couldn’t have much more experience than quickies on the fly with other travellers, if he got that at all. No wonder the concept of getting to know someone before sex was alien to him.</p><p>“Well, we can do that, then,” Quirrel said. “Do you want to prepare me?”</p><p>“Y-yeah...”</p><p>Quirrel got off Tiso and flopped next to him. The bed was meant for one person, but if they both laid on the side, face to face, they had room for two – with nothing extra. Tiso took the small bottle from Quirrel’s hand and got some on his fingers. Then he slipped down Quirrel’s body, between his legs, but hesitated before pressing down against him.</p><p>Quirrel kissed his brow, close to the base of his antennas, as an encouragement. “You’re nervous.”</p><p>“I don’t want you to... stop.”</p><p>“Just touch me. I’ll give you warnings if I don’t like it, I promise.”</p><p>Quirrel hummed in agreement when Tiso breached him, despite the light strain. The finger inside of him probed hesitantly, moving back and forth.</p><p>Quirrel felt the other to be shyer than what he wanted to show, and he didn’t quite understand why. Was it the perspective of getting what he wanted after all this time that intimidated him? That was strange. He decided that he would try to help ease it up, and his idea for that was to slowly stroke down Tiso’s front, all the way to the slit on his lower stomach.</p><p>He already found an erection there, hot and eager in his palm. Tiso’s breath hitched and his hips instinctively pressed closer. Quirrel had to oblige and help him a little by stroking him a few times, but he did so carefully. With how eager Tiso was, he didn’t want him to get... too excited too soon. No, he would have to work for it; a mischievous smile stretched Quirrel’s lips.</p><p>Tiso tried a second finger, pushing it in with ease, and Quirrel’s toes curled when he was scissored. The mix of strain and pleasure was not to everyone’s taste, but Quirrel happened to like it. And Tiso was doing a good job, even if he was a little <em>too</em> soft about it. Quirrel took matters in his own hands.</p><p>“You can go a little harder on me,” Quirrel said.</p><p>“I’m... well, I don’t want to—“</p><p>“I tell you that it’s fine. <em>Do it</em>.”</p><p>Maybe Quirrel said those words with a bit more authority than what he would have usually had, but—to be honest, he was starting to want more. And he definitely heard Tiso’s breath hitch from being ordered what to do.</p><p>Oh. Well, wasn’t that interesting.</p><p>Tiso obeyed, plunging his fingers deeper, setting the pace, and Quirrel spread his legs wider to encourage him. His breath hitched when Tiso got close to his sweet spot deep inside, glazing it. Soon enough, his cock was filled as well, resting outside against his stomach. He moved rocked his hips to rub it against Tiso’s, drawing a pleasing moan out of him.</p><p>“It’s enough, Tiso,” he said after the other had spent a while with three fingers inside him</p><p>“Ngh—“ Tiso grumbled and pulled away slowly.</p><p>Quirrel lost no time after that. He grabbed Tiso’s shoulder and turned him on his back as he straddled him. Shock flashed on the other’s face from the sudden movement, a shock that was quickly replaced by arousal when Quirrel rubbed his backside against his erection, teasing him with what would come next.</p><p>“Good,” Quirrel said. He stroked one of Tiso’s antennas with a thumb, making him shiver. “Are you ready?”</p><p>“Oh— Nyeh, so ready.”</p><p>Quirrel smiled and reached behind to grab Tiso’s dick and stabilise it. Slowly, he lowered himself on it, making sure that he gave himself the time to adjust. Tiso’s hands were grabbing the sheets so tightly his knuckles were white.</p><p>“Relax,” Quirrel said. “Wyrm, you look like you are the one bottoming.”</p><p>“I’m— It’s hard not to—“</p><p>“Relax. Breathe.”</p><p>Tiso drew in a deep breath. Quirrel waited for him to calm down.</p><p>“I don’t know what is happening to me—I’m usually not like that,” said Tiso. “It’s just that you’re so—“ He bit his lip.</p><p>“I told you that it would be worth the wait.”</p><p>Quirrel didn’t give Tiso the occasion of answering: he lowered himself on him, swifter than what he would have liked, but he was compensated by the sight of Tiso’s shocked face. He grunted as the feeling of fullness. Oh, it had been so long. He was glad he got to do that now.</p><p>He gave himself a moment to adjust, before he started to move again. He did so slowly, at first, hands on Tiso’s chest to help brace himself. Tiso’s own hands came to grab him at the waist, holding on him more than trying to control him for now. Quirrel grunted in approval, allowing it.</p><p>When he was sure that the burn of the stretch had faded entirely, he leaned back as he lowered himself, and Tiso’s dick rubbed right against his prostate. The friction, firm and sudden, made him see stars – he moaned, shamelessly, before he could stop himself. Tiso gasped and his hands tightened.</p><p>Quirrel paused. “That was the spot.”</p><p>“Nyeh—It was?”</p><p>“Remember it.”</p><p>Tiso swallowed his saliva and nodded. Quirrel smiled and resumed the pace. Tiso’s dick was doing wonders to him, filling him just right, rubbing against that spot that made his dick twitch. He closed his eyes and hung his head backwards, focusing on the sensation and moaning.</p><p>He felt Tiso’s hand grab him stronger and starting to make him set the pace.</p><p>He looked down. “What do you think you’re doing?” he asked.</p><p>“I’m...” Tiso had no answer. He stopped and swallowed his saliva.</p><p>“I’m on top, I decide,” Quirrel said. He placed a hand on Tiso’s chest, under his neck, pinning him down. “And I set the pace.”</p><p>Something in Quirrel’s face must have excited Tiso, because he parted his lips, transfixed by the sight, and couldn’t take his eyes off him.</p><p>“No need to look like that,” said Quirrel. “You just do as I say.”</p><p>That seemed to stir something in Tiso, that frowned. “No. I’m not... your servant.”</p><p>“Oh?” Quirrel laughed softly. “We’ll see about that.”</p><p>He didn’t give him the time to formulate a response. Right as he opened his mouth, Quirrel set a quick pacing for his hips, slapping his ass down on Tiso’s cock as quickly as he could. Instead of a protest, or whatever Tiso was about to say, only a long moan came out. Quirrel had to chuckle when he saw the other’s reaction.</p><p>This was fun.</p><p>“Oh, Wyrm—“ gasped Tiso.</p><p>“That’s why you should listen to me,” Quirrel said. “You’re the rash type, so you need someone to temper you.”</p><p>“I’m not—“</p><p>“Hush.” Quirrel placed a hand on his mouth. “Hold on for the ride.”</p><p>If there was one thing that was strong in Quirrel, it was his legs. Another would have already faltered; not him. He imposed a maddening pace on Tiso. He pinned him down in the mattress when he tried to rise to meet him and rewarded him with long, deep thrusts when he stayed still. Soon, Tiso got the point: he laid still, watching Quirrel fucking himself on his cock, eyes wide and mouth slightly open.</p><p>“Good boy,” Quirrel said.</p><p>Tiso opened his mouth to protest.</p><p>“If you keep this up, I’ll let you come in me.”</p><p>Tiso bit his lip when he heard that, his fists balling in the sheets. This shut him up effectively. It’s not that Quirrel didn’t like when he participated, it was just that the look on his face when he had to obey was priceless. And exciting. Quirrel would remember it for a long time.</p><p>But it wasn’t the only thing getting to him. With each rock of his hips, the friction built pleasure and heat in his stomach. Soon, his gesture became more frantic, seeking to get more from it. Small moans bubbled up from his throat and he didn’t even care enough to stop them.</p><p>Things suddenly got more erratic. Quirrel reached to his own dick to stroke it. Tiso, unable to resist, stated to each up to meet him, helping him to go even faster by using his hands. Quirrel didn’t stop him. The heat in his abdomen was quickly building and all he cared for was release.</p><p>It came for both of them, fast and powerful. Quirrel threw his head back and called Tiso’s name, before he felt warmth spilling deep inside of him. Himself came with little care of where it landed and soiled both his and Tiso’s chest. The latter called him too, softly, almost pleadingly, before everything became quiet.</p><p>Quirrel sighed in relief. It was done, and he wanted nothing more than to lay down next to Tiso and soak in his warmth. This urge surprised him. They just had sex, why did he still want more?</p><p>Anyhow, they were both sullied. Quirrel looked down at the white smears all over their chests and stomach, slightly deceived that he had not thought of coming in his own hand. Now he had to clean up.</p><p>But when he got up, pulling himself off Tiso’s softened cock, he was stopped by a hold on the arm.</p><p>“Where are you going?” asked Tiso.</p><p>“Just... I’m just going to go get something to get us cleaned up.”</p><p>Tiso bit his lip. Quirrel had seen the brief flash of panic in his eyes before he had been reassured. And, for some reason, it tore Quirrel’s heart that Tiso could think that he might abandon him now that they had had sex.</p><p>Had it always been like that in the warrior’s life? His partners leaving without saying goodbye when they done?</p><p>Quirrel went to fetch a wet towel in the kitchen, scrubbed himself first, then got another one for Tiso. When he came back, Tiso had his eyes closed, like for a rest, but they opened the moment Quirrel closed the door behind him – and blocked out most of the light.</p><p>“Usually, it’s the top that cleans the bottom,” Tiso said.</p><p>Quirrel laughed. “Where in the wold have you learned such a rule, Tiso?” he asked.</p><p>“Well I mean—“ He stopped himself. Thought about it hard, then seemingly dropped the subject. “But I like it your way.”</p><p>“I’m glad. I liked it with you a lot as well. I had fun.”</p><p>“You called my name when you came.” Tiso seemed extremely smug as he said that.</p><p>“Oh? That’s right.” Quirrel cast the towel to the side, to be properly cleaned later, and climbed on the bed. “But you did as well.”</p><p>“Did not!”</p><p>“Oh, I heard you all right – move a little.”</p><p>“I would never— What are you doing?”</p><p>Quirrel placed his head on Tiso’s shoulder and wrapped an arm around his waist. “Hugging you.”</p><p>“Why are we hugging?”</p><p>“You don’t want to hug?”</p><p>Tiso didn’t reply to him. He stayed very still for a while, then awkwardly wrapped an arm around Quirrel’s shoulder. There was a moment of silence.</p><p>“Am I doing all right?” suddenly asked Tiso.</p><p>“Doing what all right?”</p><p>“Hugging.”</p><p>Quirrel chuckled.</p><p>“I’ll have you know,” said Tiso, offended, “that I am a great hugger.”</p><p>“Are you now?”</p><p>“Absolutely.”</p><p> “Then I’ll have to take your word for it.” He got up on one elbow and kissed Tiso lightly on the lips. “Although there is some progress to be made.”</p><p>“Like what?”</p><p>“You could wrap your other arm around me, for starters.”</p><p>Tiso adjusted his position and did as he said. He was still a little stiff, but Quirrel was sure that he was trying his absolute best. He wondered if the other had ever been hugged in his life. He didn’t want to know the answer to that. It would probably make him sad.</p><p>He held Tiso closer. He was a reckless, arrogant, obnoxious, and sometimes downright stupid, but there was something about him that made Quirrel want to hold him close. Maybe even care for him. Maybe... maybe even love him. He closed his eyes and soaked in Tiso’s presence, his scent, his warmth, his vitality.</p><p>“I’m bored,” Tiso said.</p><p>“Well, then we stop.”</p><p>Silence.</p><p>“Do you want to stop, Tiso?”</p><p>“Well I mean—I sort of like it, but it’s boring.”</p><p>“We can do it again later, if you want.”</p><p>“We can?”</p><p>“Of course we can.”</p><p>“Nyeh. Sweet.” Tiso started to move, getting up from the bed, and Quirrel had to get out of the way. “We should do that again before I get on my way to the Coliseum. Hugging, that is.”</p><p>Quirrel paused. “You’re still going?”</p><p>“Yep!” Tiso jumped on his feet and stretched.</p><p>Quirrel slowly sat up. He wanted to say that he shouldn’t go. He wanted to tell him that he was going to die there, sooner or later, that he would be nothing but a forgotten face. But who was Quirrel to say that? Who would be Quirrel to Tiso if he gave up on the Coliseum for him?</p><p>So he didn’t say anything. And he smiled.</p><p>“Yeah. I’ll look forward to hugging you again.”  </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Fools' Confessions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Are you <em>sure</em> you don’t want to come and see me?” Tiso asked. “I’m going to do some amazing things. You wouldn’t want to miss that.”</p><p>Quirrel gave him a smile he hoped didn’t feel too forced. “I’ll pass. But thank you for the invitation.”</p><p>Tiso shrugged, but it was plain on his face that he was deceived by the refusal. Even now, as they stood in front of the Archive to commemorate Tiso’s departure, he couldn’t hide a single thing he felt.</p><p>“You should consider coming, you have some potential,” said Tiso. “But I wouldn’t want to steal your thunder in the arena. I think that it would upset you.”</p><p>Quirrel gave him a tight smile as his sole response. He didn’t want to go. Never would he fight in the arena himself. But what could he possibly say to stop Tiso?</p><p>“Well, I’ll be going,” said Tiso. He patted Quirrel on the shoulder twice, then his arm lingered.</p><p>Quirrel rolled his eyes and gave him the hug he so obviously wanted. Tiso sighed, and held him tight for a few moments before letting go quickly. As if he was scared that he wouldn’t be able to leave if he held on longer. Quirrel quickly looked away from the deep longing in his eyes.</p><p>“May the Root’s fortune be with you,” said Quirrel.</p><p>“Nyeh. Thanks. You too.”</p><p>He turned around and took a few steps, probably thinking that this was a cool, storybook worthy way of saying goodbye, but he had not taken a few steps that he stopped in his tracks and looked back at Quirrel.</p><p>“Will I see you again?” he asked.</p><p>“Maybe. I’ll be wandering on the roads,” lied Quirrel.</p><p>He felt bad for lying when he saw Tiso’s wide smile before he turned around. Stupid, stupid bug, thought Quirrel, hoping for things that would never happen.</p><p> </p><p>So, here he was again.</p><p>He dropped himself with a sigh on the thin sand of the edge of Blue Lake. A few feet away from him, the waves were lapping at the edge. It was the only sound in this place; it made it seem so quiet.</p><p>Blissfully quiet. He closed his eyes, expecting the peace to seep into him, but it didn’t. He couldn’t get rid of the image of Tiso waving at him, the last he saw of him. Hadn’t the smile on his face been strained? Quirrel would replay the image in his head and couldn’t quite decide. Maybe his memory was playing tricks on him.</p><p>But it didn’t matter! Nothing mattered. Or nothing would matter very soon, at least. He would go. He needed to go.</p><p>During all the time where he had wandered aimlessly on the face of the earth, far from Hallownest – during the times of his life he remembered best – he had known he had a purpose. He had not known <em>what</em> it was, but he had known it to be there, like a star beyond the horizon waiting for its hour to appear. And when he had heard the calling, even if he had not recognized it for what it was at first, he had come into the kingdom of Hallownest to fulfil his purpose.</p><p>And now he had nothing. Nowhere to go where he was needed, no-one that remembered him, nothing to accomplish. All his life, he had sought something more than himself. He had found it, and lost it, and then erased all trace of it. And now, it was time for him to go.</p><p>A drop fell on his leg. He looked, down, surprised. A second one landed next to it and he realized that <em>he</em> was the one crying. And he wasn’t crying about what he had lost, Monomon, his old life, the sense he used to feel. He was crying because he didn’t want to go.</p><p>And yet he didn’t want to stay. At that moment, Quirrel realized that he was terrified. He walked a thin line between having nothing and being nothing – wasn’t he already nothing? If he disappeared... would anyone know?</p><p>No one waited for him.</p><p>That <em>wasn’t</em> true, said a voice in his head. There was someone. No matter how hard Quirrel tried to dismiss it, he knew that Tiso... would miss him. Maybe he even had feelings for him. No! He didn’t.</p><p>Why not?</p><p>Why did it matter?</p><p>He was gone now. He was walking towards his death. Maybe he wouldn’t die on the first day, or the second day, or in the first three months, but the Coliseum owned him now. They all walked towards their death. Everything died someday. Quirrel’s time was now – it should be now.</p><p>But Tiso.</p><p>Tiso, shield high, charging at a Husk, or a Vengefly, or a Shrumal Ogre with the same courage. Tiso and that dumb smile he had, or the smug look on his face when he thought he was right. Tiso, so sure of himself, yet so oblivious to his real value. Tiso, that couldn’t hide a single emotion he felt, not even his damn growing feelings for Quirrel.</p><p>Tiso needed him.</p><p>And he needed Tiso.</p><p>He stood up suddenly. He felt light-headed, like a great weight had fallen off his shoulders. His mind was frantic, with no clear thought, and that was a good thing. Quirrel didn’t want to think. There was no more time to think.</p><p>He ran on the sand, towards the nearest tunnel. Maybe he still had time.</p><p> </p><p>The Coliseum looked as ghastly as it ever had. For all the great and beautiful things that had been eroded during Hallownest’s rot, it still stood there, unchanging. It made sense. The greed, the vanity and the violence of bugs <em>were</em> eternal.</p><p>He didn’t let that stop him. He rushed into it, out of breath, with the same hast he had had the entire way he had climbed up Kingdom’s Edge. Not even the Aspids had stopped him, if their spits could reach him at all as he hopped out of their way.</p><p>He didn’t see anyone as he rushed in – not that there wasn’t anyone, it was just that they were not Tiso. He had to be alive. Wyrm, Quirrel hoped he still had time. Even if he spent one round in the arena, Tiso could survive that. He had to survive. He was strong, and determined, and nothing could beat down his spirit except being rejected by the man he pinned after and <em>he had to be alive</em>.</p><p>The fighter’s quarters were damp, dark and too warm, filled with masses that could be bodies and sounds that could be a parting breath. The stink was almost intolerable; the sweat and the crass didn’t fully cover the scent of death.</p><p>He spotted the dark blue hood first.</p><p>“Tiso,” he cried. The other turned around, and Quirrel threw his arms around him. “Tiso.” He buried his face in his neck. “Tiso.”</p><p>“You came,” Tiso said.</p><p>“I did.” He was alive. Quirrel held back his tears. “I came for you.”</p><p>“For me?”</p><p>“Who else?” He finally had the strength to pry himself away from Tiso, to look at him in the eyes. “Let’s go outside. I need to tell you something.”</p><p>“Outside? To tell me what?”</p><p>Quirrel looked around him. He had to take Tiso away from that place; he wouldn’t be safe from it until they had left. Already were some of the warriors there casting them distasteful glances, their eyes dead save for the annoyance of having their precious rest disturbed by their conversation.</p><p>“It’s important,” Quirrel said.</p><p>That was all the answer Tiso needed, apparently, to decided to follow him. They climbed out of the warrior’s quarters, through the main hall and outside. The beats of the roaring crowd inside was like a lingering pulse in the dark, desolated caverns of Kingdom’s Edge; it was the pulse of an ever-hungry beast. Even its entrance looked like a gaping maw. To Quirrel’s diurnal eyes, it looked like a dark, endless cavern. He wondered what Tiso saw in it, what he could say to stop him from going back.</p><p>“So, what is it?” Tiso asked.</p><p>Quirrel looked up at him, into his face, and bit his lip. He wanted to find the right words. He had never wanted anything more in his life. He even sent a prayer to the gods, knowing not if they even heard him at all – or, if there was no one there to help him, to whatever other force could allow him to save Tiso from himself.</p><p>“Don’t go,” he said. “Don’t go back in. Please.”</p><p>“What? Why not?”</p><p>“Because—Tiso, you’ll die.”</p><p>He laughed. “I won’t. You don’t believe me?”</p><p>“You’ll die,” repeated Quirrel. “Don’t go back. It’s not worth it. Your life is not worth it.”</p><p>“Well, maybe it is.” There was venom in Tiso’s voice, venom from a long-festering wound – a wound to old to have been caused by Quirrel. “You can’t tell me how much my life is worth, I’ll do what I want with it.”</p><p>“What are you even hoping to gain? Money? Glory?”</p><p>“Glory! They’ll remember my name, Quirrel.” Something lit in Tiso’s eyes as he grabbed the other’s shoulders. “Can you imagine? They’ll know who I am.”</p><p>“And what if you fail?”</p><p>“Then I would have died trying.”</p><p>“Tiso, no...” Quirrel shook his head. Reached up to stroke his cheek. “Don’t do that. You can’t die for that.”</p><p>“What does it matter?” Tiso slapped Quirrel’s hand away. “It’s not like anyone would care!”</p><p>“I care!”</p><p>Shock appeared on Tiso’s face when the other raised his voice. Silence.</p><p>“I love you,” Quirrel said.</p><p>Silence.</p><p>“If you died, I would care. I wouldn’t bear losing you.”</p><p>“I...”</p><p>Tiso looked away, a hand on his mouth, as if to stop the words from coming out. It didn’t stop the tears in his eyes. Quirrel took him in this time, not like when they had last parted. He cared about Tiso; he cared about his pain.</p><p>Quirrel took his hand.</p><p>“You matter,” he whispered. “You’re the most important person in the world to me and I’d never forgive myself if I let you go back in.”</p><p>This was the tipping point for Tiso. There was a chocked sob at the back of his throat, and he hugged Quirrel tightly enough to chase the breath out of him. There it was again, Tiso’s desperation, holding on to Quirrel like a lost man. Well, it made sense. They had both been lost before finding each other.</p><p>Tiso was shaking from the emotions crashing through him, his breath ragged, but he didn’t cry. Yet Quirrel perceived his grief, the endless pain he carried. Several minutes of silence went by, several hours in Quirrel’s mind, as he stood there holding him and hoping, hoping with all of his heart. Tiso gradually calmed down, his breath growing slower and deeper.</p><p>“I’ve always been alone,” whispered Tiso. And that’s all he said about his pain.</p><p>He drew back and held Quirrel’s face in both of his hands. And then he kissed him; a kiss with all the tenderness of a beloved.</p><p>“I love you too,” Tiso said. “I know I do.”</p><p>“Will... will you stay with me?”</p><p>Tiso looked at the entrance of the Colosseum. He seemed to be thinking about something, and Quirrel feared the response that might come of it. He held him tightly, as if that would somewhat stop him from leaving.</p><p>“I will,” he said.</p><p>Those simple words lifted a tremendous weight of Quirrel. And even if the cold wind of Kingdom’s edge was as unforgiving as it always was, he felt warm, the warms of pure, unhindered happiness.</p><p>Tiso would stay.</p><p>Tiso loved him back.</p><p>He could help but smile. Tiso looked at him, saw his expression, and smiled back, before kissing him. Their hands linked as they opened their mouth and deepened it. Quirrel didn’t even care if anyone saw them as they happened to walk by.</p><p>They held on to each other even after the kiss had ended. They couldn’t believe that they had found someone else. They couldn’t believe how fortune, after all this time, had decided to smile for them. They needed to soak up the presence of the other before it ended, because surely this couldn’t be anything else but a dream – a wonderful dream.</p><p>Tiso was the one to break the moment by pulling away, but he didn’t let go of Quirrel’s hand.</p><p>“What next?” he asked. “Where do we go?”</p><p>Quirrel beaned. “Anywhere is fine by me. As long as we are together, I’ll be happy.”</p><p>“Together.” Tiso tasted the word. “I like that.”</p><p>Tiso started walking, and Quirrel walked next to him.</p><p>He wondered if he should tell him about his own Coloseum, the Blue Lake. He wondered if he would ever return there. But even as the memories of his time there came back, even as he searched himself for the thoughts that once swarmed him like a murder of crows, they were kept at bay by the warm hand in his. And that was all that mattered; he no longer had to dwell on the past.</p><p>He had Tiso, and that was enough.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>To you that have read until the end: </p><p>Quirrel and Tiso's initials are Q and T.<br/>Together they make QT.<br/>That's what you are.</p><p>I'm so glad I am finished. This got way longer than what I expected it to be. At the time I first published it, I thought that it would his the 15k words, but when I first wrote it, I thought it would be 5k. But I don't regret what it is now, on the contrary, I'm quite proud of it. Whether it is good or not, however, is up to you to decide, dear reader. </p><p>Feel free to contact me on Twitter @ ClawsWrites if you want to tell me anything, or follow me for announcements on what comes next. I also answer as many comments as possible, so feel free to leave one, good or bad.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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